LG CNS pushes for virtual factory business

Cho Hyung-chul, head of Smart F&C division at LG CNS, tries the company’s virtual factory service at Innovation Studio at its headquarters in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of LG CNS

By Baek Byung-yeul

LG CNS is focusing on the virtual factory business as one of its next business targets, as more companies are interested in creating the same type of facility so as to prevent possible accidents as well as enhance their operating systems, the company said, Thursday.

The company said it has been actively trying to expand into the virtual factory and virtual lab businesses. It recently completed a proof of a concept test of its virtual factory model for a factory that conducts research activities, such as developing new materials.

“Our Virtual Factory business creates factories and facilities in a virtual environment by analyzing all the data generated from factories. The entire factory can be operated in a virtual environment in the same way that it can in the real world. It is possible to control the entire production process,” a company spokesman said.

To give an example, the official said that its Virtual Factory system allows engineers in Korea to remotely control factory facilities in the United States. It is possible to produce remote products by analyzing data generated in the virtual space to predict failures and automatically optimize the process order.

In addition to the virtual factory business, the company also tries to capitalize on the virtual lab business. Its virtual lab allows researchers to conduct various studies, such as product design, quality tests and new material development in a virtual space.

“Research activities that were difficult to attempt in reality due to problems such as safety and costs are also possible in our Virtual Lab business,” the company official added.

To attract potential customers to test its virtual factory and virtual lab services, the company is operating what it calls, Innovation Studio, at its headquarters in Seoul. Customers can experience the latest version of its services via the metaverse, augmented reality and virtual reality technologies.