Hansol Paper Secures Government Funding for AI Papermaking Factory Project

Hansol Paper (213500.KS) has been selected for a South Korean government support program to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) factory for papermaking processes, with a four-year project aimed at optimizing production, equipment operations and manufacturing efficiency.

The project is organized by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy under a program promoting collaboration between large companies and smaller firms. It will apply AI technology across papermaking operations, using manufacturing data to support autonomous factory operations and optimize production conditions.

A consortium of seven organizations will carry out the project, comprising two user companies, including Hansol Paper, three AI specialist firms and two research institutes. The initiative will run through 2029, with a total investment of 12.2 billion won ($8.6 million), including 8.5 billion won in government funding.

Hansol Paper plans to integrate and standardize process, equipment and quality data collected at its manufacturing plants. It will then develop and validate AI models in stages for thermal energy optimization, equipment fault diagnosis and quality analysis, with the longer-term goal of establishing an autonomously operated AI factory platform.

Planned applications include optimizing steam production at incinerators, reducing steam consumption during paper drying, predicting equipment faults and breakdowns, improving safety management through AI, and connecting manufacturing data between large companies and smaller firms.

The company expects the project to support improvements in productivity, energy efficiency, equipment stability and product quality. It also plans to develop a standardized model based on the demonstration results that could be applied to other manufacturing industries with processes similar to papermaking.

A Hansol Paper official said the project would go beyond applying AI to individual processes by connecting manufacturing-site data and using it to inform production decisions.

The company said it would use the initiative to advance its AI-based manufacturing model and strengthen competitiveness in productivity, energy efficiency, quality and safety.