LS ELECTRIC highlights smart factory technologies to ASEAN ambassadors
LS ELECTRIC Chairman Koo Ja-kyun, left, explains the technology used in its Cheongju smart factory in North Chungcheong Province to 10 ASEAN ambassadors. / Courtesy of LS ELECTRIC
By Kim Hyun-bin
LS ELECTRIC has invited ambassadors from key ASEAN nations to highlight its smart factory technologies and contemplate ways to expand its businesses and engage in technological cooperation with their respective countries.
LS ELECTRIC has invited 10 ambassadors of the ASEAN Committee in Seoul (ACS) to its factory in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Tuesday, one of the country's top tier smart factories, for discussions on technological and business cooperation in the ASEAN region, the company said.
ACS involves the 10 ASEAN member nations consisting of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The factory visit comes on the heels of a previous meeting held last month with LS Group and ASEAN ambassadors to help brainstorm ways to enhance mutual cooperation.
LS ELECTRIC Chairman Koo Ja-kyun met with the ambassadors including Thailand Ambassador Rommanee Kananurak, Singapore Ambassador Eric Teo Boon Hee and Vietnam Ambassador Vu Tung Nguyen at the Cheongju plant and introduced the G sector of the smart factory production line to the distinguished guests.
The factory's G sector consists of fully-automated production lines for tasks such as assembling electrical power equipment through to testing and packaging. The company states it is one of the top smart factories in the country.
The company has injected over 20 billion won starting in 2011 to establish the smart factory which has become a key business model for the firm.
“After establishing the smart factory, the device wait time was cut in half, while production rose over 60 percent,” Chairman Koo said. “Energy usage was also reduced by more than 60 percent and the defect rate came out at 7 parts per million (PPM), so the smart factory has an effect of killing three birds with one stone.”
Through the integration of technology and automation, it allows mass production or multi-production but is also capable of conducting customized flexible manufacturing, the chairman said, adding that “We want the systematic revolution in smart factory technology to be expanded to ASEAN nations.”
LS smart factory
LS ELECTRIC's Cheongju factory produces the company's flagship low-voltage circuit breakers and electric switches.
The first floor of G sector produces 2.6 million commercial low-voltage circuit breakers annually with all processes utilizing a programmable logic controller (PLC). The PLC is interconnected to the PC as well as the manufacturing execution system (MES). The MES acts as the hub within the factory network and serves as a communication relay for different systems throughout the factory.
Automated guided vehicles (AGV) are utilized delivering components to the production line and moving the finished goods to the packaging line.
The packaging line is also fully automated through the weight inspection sensors, which inspect if all packaging is in order, while the packaging robot places the finished products in the right size box and puts labels on the boxes.
The second floor of G sector is capable of assembling 1.2 million electric switches annually through the smart production line.
LS ELECTRIC continues to introduce other technological features to the factory including cyber physical system (CPS) and Internet of Things (loT) to enhance simulation analysis to provide an optimized production system and offer top-level smart factory capabilities, the company said.
To strengthen CPS and Internet of Service (IoS) and IoT aspects, the company continues to foster professionals and implement related solutions in the field, while providing technology education and onsite visits for subcontractors to better expand and strengthen the smart factory supply lines.
“Through the smart production line, productivity and energy efficiency have been drastically enhanced while upping customer satisfaction, work environment and convenience factors,” an LS Electric official said. “Currently, we are underway upgrading our mid-level production line to provide top-level smart production and want LS ELECTRIC's example to contribute to manufacturing innovation.”