Korea Aerospace Industries said Thursday it will invest 98.5 billion won ($88.3 million) to develop a customized smart manufacturing system and apply it first to the production of KF-21 Boramae fighters.

According to the nation’s sole aircraft manufacturer, it will develop the smart manufacturing system by 2023 and apply the system to all of its business sites. The system will be modeled after KAI’s most advanced A350 smart factory located at its headquarters in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province.

“The goal is to establish a standardized smart manufacturing process for Korea’s aerospace industry and pass it down to our suppliers,” a KAI official said.

KAI’s A350 smart factory manufactures wing parts called ribs for Airbus A350 passenger aircrafts. After adopting artificial intelligence, the factory, which produces 660 ribs a month, reduced the production time by 66 percent. Also, raw materials are shipped in and out of the facility in just one week, a striking improvement from four weeks. Also, the factory now only requires just 24 staff, down from 60.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)