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SPC to build smart bread factory in Eumseong
next year
By Ko Dong-hwan, The Korea Times - Major
food conglomerate SPC Group will start building an automated smart factory next
year in North Chungcheong Province to enhance workplace safety and strengthen
its production capacity.
The plan comes after a recent series of
workplace deaths at the group’s manufacturing plants prompted SPC to launch a
compliance committee in July to strengthen internal monitoring and improve
workplace safety. The committee proposed the new plant to the group’s
leadership as part of efforts to improve worker conditions.
The new plant will be built inside Human
Smart Valley in Eumseong County. Powered by artificial intelligence and
equipped with automated pipelines and Internet of Things sensors throughout its
operations, it will be the group’s most advanced production facility to date.
SPC has secured a 183,000-square-meter
site inside the valley. The area accounts for 20 percent of the valley’s entire
footprint, the largest among tenant companies, and is 2.5 times larger than the
group’s current largest manufacturing plant, SPL, in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi
Province.
SPC plans to complete construction by
the end of 2028. The group aims for the plant to be selected as a Global
Lighthouse Factory, a designation jointly granted by the World Economic Forum
and McKinsey & Company to the world’s most advanced operational sites
utilizing Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies. The Global Lighthouse
Network currently includes 201 production facilities.
SPC Vice Chairman Hur Jin-soo and SPC
CEO Do Se-ho met with North Chungcheong Province Gov. Kim Young-hwan, Eumseong
County Gov. Jo Byung-ok and Rep. Lim Ho-seon of the ruling Democratic Party of
Korea, who represents the county, on Thursday. They signed a memorandum of
understanding to introduce the plant, with a final project contract scheduled
for next year.
SPC said the plant’s geographical
location offers strong connectivity to the group’s production and logistics
infrastructure.
“The new plant will be a critical
turning point for SPC’s new direction focused on workplace safety and
innovation. It will introduce the highest level of safety features and,
hopefully, earn trust from our employees, customers and other stakeholders,” Hur
said.
