Kolon Benit enhances aramid processing at KIC plant

Kolon Industries aramid production facility in Gumi. [Photo provided by Kolon Benit Co.]

Kolon Benit Co., the tech arm of Kolon Group, said on Monday that it recently enhanced the efficiency of a Kolon Industries Co. (KIC) plant located in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, by deploying cutting-edge smart factory technology in the aramid production facility.

Aromatic polyamide, or aramid, is renowned as a super fiber as it has an extremely high melting point of up to 500 degrees Celsius and is five times stronger than steel on an equal weight basis. The material has become indispensable in various high-tech manufacturing, including body armor, optical cables, and electric vehicle tires.

The facility upgrade comes as Kolon Industries is poised to double (double up) aramid production.

This upgrade enables on-site personnel to oversee all process data related to aramid production, quality inspection, packaging, and inventory storage at a single glance. In case of quality irregularities, such as fiber strength, immediate alerts enable swift corrective measures. All the manufacturing data is also seamlessly linked to the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to help decision-making at an executive level.

Kolon Benit aims to introduce further data-driven smart factory solutions, including Sales Product Inventory Communicator (SPIC), a production planning system enabling rapid response to market demands, and Energy Monitoring System (EMS) for promoting eco-friendly manufacturing practices.