KT partners with e-commerce and robotics companies for 5G smart factory solution

By Park Sae-jin Posted : March 7, 2019, 10:39 Updated : March 7, 2019, 10:39

[Iclickart]

SEOUL -- KT partnered with an e-commerce wing of South Korea's fashion wholesaler apM Group and RS Automation, a smart factory company, to develop a smart factory solution for fashion products, based on a 5G mobile network.

KT said in a statement Thursday that the three companies signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in establishing smart factory infrastructure, developing intelligent robots for sewing factories, and analyzing fashion trends with big data.

The smart factory solution would improve working conditions, enhance production and provide a differentiated shopping experience to consumers by reflecting big data-based fashion trends. KT said it would apply the solution to some 4,000 sewing factories affiliated with apM.

"We are happy to cooperate with apM and RS Automation in establishing a 5G-based smart factory solution for fashion products," KT's 5G Business Unit head Lee Yong-gyu was quoted as saying. 

Since the commercial operation of 5G mobile networks began in limited areas in South Korea in December 2018, mobile carriers have tried to develop 5G edge cloud-based solutions for businesses.

Edge cloud, or edge computing, is a computing infrastructure established close to the sources of data such as Internet of things (IoT) devices and machines inside a smart factory. It is capable of gathering and analyzing data at the sources of data. Because data is analyzed, filtered and sorted by edge computing devices, streamlined data will be sent.

Last month, KT teamed up with Cognex, an American developer of machine vision, to commercialize the 5G-based edge cloud-based machine vision solution. Machine vision technology uses software and sensors in automated manufacturing facilities to identify parts, detect defects and guide assembly robots. SK Telecom partnered with MobiledgeX, a San Francisco-based edge computing company.

The global market for smart factories is expected to reach $295.4 billion by 2022, according to Markets and Markets, a market research company.
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