Shinshinsa(CEO, Choi Sang-gi, www.shinshinsa.com) is a robot company founded in 1981 and based in Gimhae City, Gyeongnam Province. They have been mainly in the business of producing and supplying press molds for the LG Electronics Home Appliances Department.

On the wave of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Shinshin is looking to revamp the field of smart factory and robots as a way to kick start a new growth engine. Against this backdrop, the company is promoting the development of their smart factory and Robot SI businesses, centered on Research and Development Center (Robotics Division), and have begun supplying their newly developed logistics robots.

▲ Logistics robot developed by Shinshinsa.

A logistics robot for mass production and a lego robot were developed in house by the company. In a first, the company in 2014 developed an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle), a type of logistics robot. It is currently undergoing mass production.

The AGV developed by Shinshinsa is able to meet the harsh demands of the manufacturing environment due to the flexible nature of its structure. The logistics robot consists of “SHINKA 1,” a lego type logistics robot; and mass marketed “SHINKA 2” robot. The SHINKA 1 was designed for export, and accordingly, is a lego type that can be disassembled. Disassembly requires only four steps, making it easily transported to an airplane cargo hold. The traction power of the robot reaches up to 800 kg and is equipped with wireless charging, Wi-Fi, Monitoring, and remote control functions. This product was patented this year. SHINKA 2 is a three-wheeled logistics robot can be operated both indoors and outdoors. Optional Wi-Fi and wireless charging are supported.

▲Robot SI research field

Shinshinsa has also entered the Robot SI business. At Gyeongnam Technopark in 2017, the company participated in a project to build a Robot Demonstration model, hence for the first time applying its robots to the manufacture of “Indy 5,” an articulated collaborative robot produced by Neuromeka, a Korean company that specializes in collaborative robots. On the heels of this, Shinshinsa participated in the Conditional Overseas Procurement Business and 2018 Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement’s Robot supply business, thus establishing itself as a Robot SI company that can apply a large number of robots on site.

The company is actively engaged in smart factory related businesses. With the start of MES (Manufacturing Execution System) in 2014, the company was the first among LG Electronics partner companies to begin SCM activities. Further, since 2016, the company has been seeking to upgrade their smart factory and has established a system to allow real-time site monitoring by connecting facility interfaces and IoT equipment to its headquarters. In 2017, they began a government led big data decision systems project in collaboration with POSTECH and Korea Electronics Technology Institute for research and development to find systems capable of quick decision-making at manufacturing facilities. The project is scheduled to run through to 2019. Along with these projects, Shinshinsa is also participating in the development of new materials for root companies.

▲AGV Concept

The company’s efforts were rewarded in 2016 with the Korean Shipping and Logistics Award; and in 2017 the Minister’s Award from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Minister’s Award from Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy for their productivity innovation partnerships.

Based on his substantive organizational and management skills as a competitive press processing company, CEO of Shinshinsa, Choi Sang-gi, is determined to produce visible results in new endeavors such as those in the robotics and smart factory fields. “Although we are now a small company, we will grow to become a great company,” the CEO pledged.