• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.281-294
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• 2023

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to explore the determinants of the organizational level for the advancement of smart factory. We suggested three determinants of the organizational level such as CEO's entrepreneurship, high-involvement human resource management, and cooperative industrial relations. Design/methodology/approach - The population of our survey was manufacturing SMEs, and we took a sample and conducted a survey of 232 companies. Since the level of smart factory advancement, which is a dependent variable, was measured on an ordinal scale, ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to test the hypothesis. Findings - The higher the level of high-involvement human resource management, the higher the level of smart factory advancement. As the level of high-involvement human resource management increases by one unit, the probability of smart factory advancement increases by 22.8%. On the other hand, the CEO's entrepreneurship did not significantly affect the level of smart factory advancement. Interestingly, the cooperative industrial relations negatively affected to the level of smart factory advancement, contrary to the hypothesis prediction. Research implications or Originality - This study explored determinants at the organizational level that affect the advancement of smart factories. Through this, various implications are presented for related research and policy fields.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.76-83
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• 2019

The South Korean government is actively assisting the supply of the smart factory solutions to SMEs (Small & Medium-sized Enterprises) according to its manufacturing innovation 3.0 policy for the smart manufacturing as the 4th industrial revolution era unfolds. This study analyzed the impacts of the smart factory solutions, which have been supplied by the government, on the companies performances. The effects of the level of smart factory and the operation capabilities for the smart factory solutions on company performances, and the mediating effects of manufacturing capabilities have been analyzed using SPSS and AMOS. The data for this survey-based study were collected from the SMEs which implemented the smart factory solutions since 2015. The results show that the level of smart factory solutions adopted and operation capabilities for the smart factories do not have direct effects on the company performances, but their mediating effects on the manufacturing capabilities matter and the manufacturing capabilities effect directly on the company performances. In addition significant factors boosting the operation capability for the smart factory and the levels of the smart factory solutions are identified. Finally, the policy direction for enhancing the smart factory effects is presented, and the future research directions along with the limitations are suggested.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.25-38
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• 2019

This study is to develop a diagnostic model for the effective introduction of smart factories in the manufacturing industry, to diagnose SMEs that have difficulties in building their own smart factory compared to large enterprise, to identify the current level and to present directions for implementation. IT, AT, and OT experts diagnosed 18 SMEs using the "Smart Factory Capacity Diagnosis Tool" developed for smart factory level assessment of companies. They analyzed the results and assessed the level by smart factory diagnosis categories. Companies' smart factory diagnostic mean score is 322 out of 1000 points, between 1 level (check) and 2 level (monitoring). According to diagnosis category, Factory Field Basic, R&D, Production/Logistics/Quality Control, Supply Chain Management and Reference Information Standardization are high but Strategy, Facility Automation, Equipment Control, Data/Information System and Effect Analysis are low. There was little difference in smart factory level depending on whether IT system was built or not. Also, Companies with large sales amount were not necessarily advantageous to smart factories. This study will help SMEs who are interested in smart factory. In order to build smart factory, it is necessary to analyze the market trends, SW/ICT and establish a smart factory strategy suitable for the company considering the characteristics of industry and business environment.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.13-26
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of each of the two technology acceptance factors(employees' attitude toward smart factory technology, and ease of smart factory technology use) on the introduction level of each of the three smart factory technologies (manufacturing big data technology, automation technology, and supply chain integration technology), and in turn, the effect of each of the three smart factory technologies on manufacturing performance. This study employed PLS statistics software package to empirically validate a structural equation model with survey data from 100 domestic small-and medium-sized manufacturing firms (SMMFs). The analysis results revealed the followings. First, it is founded that employees' attitude toward smart factory technology influenced all of the three smart factory technology introduction levels in a positive manner. In particular, SMMFs of which employees had more favorable attitude toward smart factory technology tended to increase introduction levels of both automation technology and supply chain integration technology more than in the case of manufacturing big data technology. Second, ease of smart factory technology use also had a positive impact on each of the three smart factory technology introduction levels, respectively. A noteworthy finding is this : SMMFs which perceived smart factory technology as easier to use would like to elevate the introduction level of manufacturing big data technology more than in the cases of either automation technology or supply chain integration technology. Third, smart factory technologies such as automation technology and supply chain integration technology had affirmative impacts on manufacturing performance of SMMFs. These results shed some valuable insights on the introduction of smart factory technology : The success of smart factory heavily depends on organization-and people-related factors such as employees' attitude toward smart factory technology and employees' perceived ease of smart factory technology use.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.115-124
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• 2019

This study is an empirical study of 'the effect of the key factors of Smart Factory on management performance through internal environmental factors in small and medium enterprises'. The purpose of the research is to verify that the implementation of a Smart Factory affects the performance of management and contribute to the continued development of the company, and to suggest the national policy of expanding the deployment of a Smart Factory. The procedures were surveyed by working-level officials of small and medium-sized manufacturing companies with a Smart Factory and statistically analyzed with the SPSS and SMART PLS. The results of the study showed that first, the environmental factors within the company had a positive effect on the key components of the Smart Factory. Second, the key factor in Smart Factory has had a positive impact on management performance. The above evidence shows that the key factors in smart factory considering the environmental factors of an enterprise affect its management performance, thus laying the theoretical foundation for the performance of smart factory construction. In the future, we will study how to build a Smart Factory.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.229-234
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• 2024

A smart factory is defined as a cutting-edge, intelligent factory that integrates all production processes from product planning to sales with information and communication technology. Through these factories, each company produces customized products with minimal cost and time. The smart factory promotion project in Korea has produced positive results even in difficult environments such as the COVID-19 situation. Through the transition to a smart manufacturing production system, the competitiveness of small and medium-sized businesses has been greatly strengthened, including increased productivity and reduced costs. This study was based on surveyed data conducted by organizations related to smart factory promotion in 2020. Significant contents and major characteristics that emerged from the surveyed data were inferred and described. Since the meaningful contents reflect the reality of the company, more efficient promotion of smart factories will be possible in the future.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.205-224
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• 2023

Purpose This study investigates the impact of organizational characteristics on organizational performance through case studies of smart factory implementation in the context of Korean small and medium Enterprises (SMEs). To achieve this goal, this study adopts the smart factory index of KOSMO (Korea Smart Manufacturing Office) established by Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups. We visited 3 firms implemented smart factory projects. This study presents the results of field study in detail with evaluation criteria on how organizational competences like AI technology adoption and facility automation can be exploited to positively influence organizational performance through smart factory implementation. Design/methodology/approach There are not so many results of empirical studies related to smart factories in Korea. This is because organizational support and user involvement are required for facility AI platform service beyond factory automation after the start of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Korean government's KOSMO (Korean Smart Manufacturing Office) has developed and proposed a level measurement index for smart factory implementation. This study conducts case studies based on the level measurement method proposed by KOSMO in the process of conducting case studies of three companies belonging to the root and mechanic industries in Korea. Findings The findings indicate that organizational competences, such as facility AI platform adoption and user involvement, are antecedents to influence smart factory implementation, while smart factory implementation has significant relationship with organizational performance. This study provides a better understanding of the connection between organizational competences and organizational performance through smart factory case studies. This study suggests that SMEs should focus on enhancing their organizational competences for improving organizational performance through implementing smart factory projects.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.1071-1080
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• 2017

Recently, the terms of the 4th Industrial Revolution and the Smart Factory are often heard through news and media. But most of the companies that are parties are not interested. Because there is no specific guidance on how to build Smart Factory and information about Smart Factory. The built of the Smart Factory should be carried out in accordance with the size of the company considering the purpose of the introduction. In the existing study, they analyzed successful cases of building Smart Factory in Korea As a result, in the case of large-size firms, it is an effective strategy that expanding from a model factory to whole factory for successful Smart Factory building. In addition, in the case of medium and small-size firms, it is an effective strategy that upgrading from low-level step to high-level step for successful Smart Factory building. In this study, selecting medium and small-size firms, and bottleneck section and processes requiring improvement are identified through 3D virtual process design, and then install sensors. Finally, after analyzing the data collected through the sensor, we will improve the process and build Smart Factory with improved productivity.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.87-105
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• 2020

Purpose: This paper aims to propose a practical strategy for smart factories and a step-by-step quality strategy according to the maturity of smart factory construction. Methods: The characteristics, compositional requirements, and diagnosis system are examined for smart factories through theoretical considerations. Several cases of implementing smart factory are studied considering the company maturity level from the aspect of the smartness concept. And specific quality techniques and innovation activities are carefully reviewed. Results: The maturity level of smart factory was classified into five phases: 1) ICT non-application, 2) basic, 3) intermediate 1, 4) intermediate 2, 5) advanced level. A five-step quality strategy was established on the basis of case studies; identify, measure, analyze, optimize, and customize. Some quality techniques are introduced for step-by-step implementation of quality strategies. Conclusion: To build a successful smart factory, it is necessary to establish a quality strategy that suits the culture and size of the company. The quality management strategy proposed in this paper is expected to contribute to the establishment of appropriate strategies for the size and purpose of the company.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2020

Purpose: This paper treats the survey result from the suppliers of smart factories. Based on the survey results, it is provided suggestions about government policies of the smart factory. Methods: For providing political suggestions, the survey of smart factory is conducted. The survey results are analyzed by the correlation and association methods based on the stratification. Results: The survey results are analyzed for extracting policy-level suggestions. Multiple policy-level suggestions are identified and presented in the conclusion. Conclusion: Six policy-level suggestions are presented for enhancing the management efficiency of suppliers of smart factory.