POSTECH: Apple Manufacturing R&D Accelerator Hosts SME Week

Apple Manufacturing R&D Accelerator, the first of its kind in the world to be established at POSTECH, wrapped up its first SME WEEK from April 4 to 7 with great response from participating SMEs.

SME Week is a training program for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to implement smart factories, providing them with best practices in manufacturing facility innovation and training programs on how to use them. Held for the first time this year, more than 100 SME representatives and staff from across the country participated in the event.

Divided into three sessions, Smart Data, Smart Process, and Smart Quality, the main courses filled up early, affirming the high level of interest from SMEs in smart factory as well as the Apple Manufacturing R&D Accelerator.

In particular, Lean Manufacturing course, which teaches optimization methodology to promote process efficiency, and Green Manufacturing course, which introduced green energy and future trends in product manufacturing, attracted the most attention. In addition, the practical courses, such as hands-on training using photo boxes and machine learning in the Smart Data track, a tour of a clean room in the Smart Process track, and a demonstration and tour of defect analysis equipment in the Smart Quality track, attracted even greater interest from participants.

“By participating in the program, I learned a lot about useful equipment that can help us on site, and I look forward to collaborating with Apple in the future,” remarked Junkoo Kang, the team leader of Micro Contact Solution Co., Ltd., who participated in SME Week.

Hyunhwa Lee, the CEO of A-Lab, commented, “We learned how AI can be used in manufacturing, and it was an opportunity to think outside the box about the limitations of manufacturing.”