Joint launch ceremony held for 'Industrial AI Solutions' and 'AI Agent' projects

The government plans to expand its AI transformation initiative, known as M.AX, from the factory floor to seven broader industrial sectors — including supply chain management — covering the full range of corporate activity.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a joint launch ceremony Monday at L Tower in Seocho-gu, Seoul, for its "Industrial AI Solutions" and "AI Agent" projects.

The Industrial AI Solutions project aims to accelerate AI adoption on the factory floor by deploying verified AI models across similar manufacturing processes through fine-tuning for immediate application.

The ministry has carried out the initiative with about 30 manufacturers so far and plans to generate further M.AX success cases with another roughly 30 manufacturers this year.

The newly launched AI Agent project will support a broader range of corporate functions using manufacturing data. The ministry plans to develop and pilot AI agents across seven interconnected sectors — spanning not only manufacturing processes but also production planning, supply chain management, safety and environmental compliance, and product design.

More than 90 companies expressed interest in the project's open call, and 10 were ultimately selected, including Sungwoo Hitech and Daeduck Electronics.

The ministry is also pursuing measures to link and leverage data — a core asset in the AI era. At the launch ceremony, the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, the Korea Electronics Technology Institute, the Korea Automotive Technology Institute and six lead organizations signed a memorandum of understanding on promoting the sharing and use of manufacturing data.

The MOU centers on having lead organizations collect meaningful data from factory sites and making that accumulated data available across AI transformation projects.

"The outcome of the AI war will ultimately be decided on the industrial front lines where value is created," said Kim Seong-yeol, director general of the ministry's industrial growth division. "We will actively support the expansion of M.AX beyond the factory floor into decision-making areas such as management planning and production control, so that it can transform the entirety of corporate activity."


oskymoon@heraldcorp.com