20.10.08

Tripartite Agreement to Realize People-centric Smart Factories

Smart manufacturing innovation mean seeking digital transformation by leveraging intelligent information technologies across the entire value chain ranging from planning, design, production, distribution, sales to post-sales services.

Smart manufacturing innovation is an essential task which must be carried out to address sluggish economic growth and structural limitation in quality job creation, and stay ahead of competition in the rapidly-changing world of uncertainty with accelerated technological development in the COVID-19 days. It is also a significant means to achieve zero carbon and green ecosystem.

As such, the labor, management and government agreed that it is necessary to execute smart manufacturing innovation as a way to create an ecosystem where large and small and medium enterprises, and supplier and consumer companies can co-exist, and help workers demonstrate their creativity in a safer manner with collaboration between people and machines.

In particular, the labor, management and government share the understanding that technological implementation anchored on the mutual trust and participation of the labor and management, data generation and usage can create synergies such as stronger business competitiveness, better working conditions and quality job creation when they lead to innovation at workplaces and sharing of value. Hereupon, the labor, management and government agree to the following to realize and spread the people-centric smart factories.

1 To realize the people-centric smart factories

1. The labor, management and government shall implement the people-centric smart factories which are workplaces where people’s skills, flexibility and creativity are demonstrated, and thereby a stronger manufacturing competitiveness is achieved in the form of production efficiency, cost savings and quality improvement, as well as better working environment, higher work efficiency, stronger safety and health conditions and capability enhancement.

2. The labor, management and government shall identify and spread best practices of a “labor-friendly pilot factory” project which has been conducted under the Tripartite Business Agreement for the Promotion of People-centric Smart Factories signed on June 3rd 2019, so that they can be applied to general smart factories.

2 To link smart factories with workplace innovation

1. The labor, management and government shall work to ensure technological implementation does not stop there, but leads to innovation of workplace environment, way of working and work organization.

2. The labor and management shall make endeavors to develop joint responses by effectively communicating on job insecurity, changing work environment, burden of acquiring new skills, etc. which may concern workers, as well as productivity gains for companies from the introduction of smart factories.

3. The government shall provide consultants’ support for capacity building, so that smart factories and workplace innovation can be effectively linked with professional expertise.

4. The government shall identify and spread various types of workplace innovation models in smart factories from different sectors, scales or industrial complexes, and offer steady support to raise the labor-management awareness on the need for workplace innovation.

3 To create a safe workplace environment

1. The labor, management and government share the understanding that high-risk tasks should take the priority in smart innovation as a way to prevent industrial accidents and lower the accident rate. The government and businesses shall work to implement smart innovation in a way that can ensure the safety of workers and improve work efficiency.

2. The government shall develop a research framework on ergonomics impacts and mental implications of smart factories and co-robots which are capable of interacting with people in the same workplace.

4 To enhance job competency development

1. The labor and management shall promote collaborative field training at workplaces in order to link technological innovation with workplace innovation, and the government shall develop support measures to this end.

2. The government shall expand consulting, education and training programs for the labor and management as a way to develop experts in the field of smart manufacturing.

3. The government shall develop and implement long-term goals and strategies for smart manufacturing innovation, create a channel of discussion involving labor, industry, research and education communities to facilitate social discussion, and promote tripartite and industry-academia cooperation at a local level.

October 8th 2020

Economic, Social and Labor Council

Committee for Digital Transition and the Future World of Work