LG Electronics is expanding its 'smart factory solution' business area, which it is nurturing as a new growth engine, into the rapidly growing 'smart logistics' field.
LG Electronics recently announced on the 1st that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for business cooperation in the smart logistics center project with logistics company Logis Valley at LG Digital Park in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.
Logis Valley is the largest integrated logistics company in Korea, providing logistics center development and leasing, logistics consulting services, etc., to various domestic and international clients. It operates over 50 directly managed logistics centers across the globe.
This agreement was made with the common objective of providing customized smart logistics solutions optimized to meet customer needs by integrating the technological capabilities of LG Electronics' smart factory solutions, such as autonomous robots and digital twins, with Logis Valley's know-how in the design, construction, and operation of logistics centers.
The two companies agreed to work together to enhance the smart logistics solutions and joint sales targeting global customers through this MOU. In particular, Logis Valley plans to actively collaborate from the early stages of logistics center design to ensure that LG Electronics' smart factory solutions achieve optimal synergy in the centers being built.
LG Electronics' smart factory solutions include ▲industrial robots ▲design, monitoring, and operation of production systems utilizing digital twins ▲process, safety, and quality management based on big data and generative AI. When applied in the logistics sector, where efficiency and accuracy are core values, it can yield significant synergy.
First, it will automate logistics processes that require substantial manpower, such as box packing operations, based on LG Electronics' extensive robot lineup, including autonomous robots equipped with robotic arms. It will also minimize errors in packing and cargo sorting operations using vision AI.
Moreover, based on the know-how of systematically managing and supplying numerous manufacturing components while operating smart factories, it can provide an automation solution that classifies and loads items within the logistics center with optimal space efficiency and ships them using robots.
The digital twin technology (replicating real objects and systems in the digital world) is another advantage. By creating a virtual logistics center and simulating the flow of goods in advance, it can design robot solutions optimized for the logistics center structure. It also allows for real-time monitoring of logistics sites using digital twins to detect factors that could disrupt the flow of goods in advance, thereby enhancing efficiency.
In addition to supplying external smart logistics solutions, the two companies plan to cooperate in applying customized solutions to Logis Valley’s directly managed logistics centers and LG Electronics' appliance logistics centers to improve their logistics efficiency. According to market research firm Fortune Business Insights, the global smart logistics market is expected to grow from approximately $88.1 billion this year to about $212.8 billion by 2032, with an average annual growth rate of 13.4%.
Meanwhile, the two companies also signed a collaboration agreement to supply LG Electronics' commercial display products for a mixed-use commercial facility development project being conducted by Logis Valley in the West Lake area of Hanoi, Vietnam.
LG Electronics offers a platform called 'LG Business Cloud,' which includes a display lineup optimized for various commercial spaces, such as 'Hotel TV,' enabling guests to enjoy content without logging into OTT services; 'Magnet All-in-One,' a 136-inch ultra-large micro LED with a built-in controller and speakers suitable for workspaces; and 'electronic blackboards' equipped with AI summarization and AI chatbot functions for convenient use in educational settings, along with software solutions for operating and managing these displays.
Jeong Dae-hwa, head of LG Electronics' Production Technology Institute, said, 'We will leverage the logistics operation know-how accumulated through the establishment and operation of lighthouse factories to become a trusted business partner in the rapidly growing smart logistics sector.'
Im Young-bin, chairman of Logis Valley Group, said, 'Through this collaboration, we will integrate our smart logistics platform technology with LG Electronics' Production Technology Institute's smart factory technology to enhance our competitiveness in the global market.'