Kolon Industries upgrades aramid smart factory system

Kolon Industries Inc. has upgraded its smart factory system to ensure its doubled production capacity of super fiber aromatic polyamide fibers (aramid), said Kolon Benit Co., the IT solution provider under Kolon Group, on Monday.

Following the latest update, the aramid factory is now fitted with an advanced manufacturing execution system that can monitor the entire production process from manufacturing to shipment, which will significantly improve efficiency in Kolon Industries’ aramid production process, the IT solution affiliate said.

The update will ensure that the advanced materials sibling produces double the amount of aramid, it added. 

Kolon Industries completed a 298.9 billion won ($225 million) project last December to double its annual aramid production capacity to more than 15,000 tons.

Aramid is a so-called super fiber thanks to its excellent heat-resistant and chemical-resistant properties, as well as a strong synthetic characteristic, which is five times stronger than steel. 

It is used as a material for insulating clothing, electric vehicle tires, optical fibers and composite materials for aircraft and ships.

Aramid is categorized into para and mera-aramid fibers, and Kolon Industries is the global top 3 and Korea’s No. 1 para-aramid maker.

Kolon Benit develops information technology (IT) programs to optimize factory production digitalization and IoT services for the financial, fashion and construction sectors.

It will advance Kolon Industries’ smart factory system for other production processes with an addition of sales product inventory communicator (SPIC) and energy monitoring system (EMS) programs.

Once they are added, Kolon Industries is expected to be fitted with a completely connected data system, according to Kolon Benit.

Write to Sang Hoon Sung at uphoon@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.