[THE INVESTOR] Korean IT solutions firm SK Holdings C&C and German industrial giant Siemens have teamed up to develop technologies and business models for smart factory.

In a memorandum of understanding signed on June 29, the two companies agreed to develop information and communications technologies that improve efficiency and lower costs at manufacturing factories. 

They also plan to propose different service models across industries specialized in Korea and then enter other markets such as China with their jointly developed service models.

Siemens has showed keen interest in joining Korea’s government-led initiative digitalizing about 10,000 small and medium-sized plants by 2020. The manufacturing industries make up almost 30 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.

“Siemens is ready to support Korea on its way to 10,000 smart factories,” said the company’s president Joe Kaeser during a conference held in Seoul in October last year.

“Digitalization can strengthen business ecosystems by enabling a much more comprehensive and intensive exchange of data and information.”

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com">jylee@heraldcorp.com)