[THE INVESTOR] LG Electronics said on Oct. 26 that it has launched a new laboratory equipped with automated systems to test product standards in Changwon City.

The new lab is part of LG’s initiative to build a smart factory on a 256,000-square-meter land at its Plant 1 production site in the city.

Researchers at the lab will assess and analyze the sound and noise of home appliances when the products are switched on. LG had run different testing rooms for different products before.

The tech firm plans to invest 600 billion won (US$524.60 million) in the smart factory project, which will house facilities currently scattered across the firm’s Changwon industrial complex, including a production control center, manufacturing lines and standard testing rooms. The new factory will feature automation and energy-efficient technologies, such as artificial intelligence, solar panels and energy storage systems.

The control center, for example, will manage the supply of components for different products and production facilities and monitor quality control procedures.

Powered by artificial intelligence and big data solutions, the manufacturing facilities at the smart factory will be able to roll out 3 million home appliance units a year, up 50 percent from the current 2 million at the Plant 1 lines, according to the company.

“The launch of the lab is the first result of our smart factory initiative and will serve as an exemplary case of factory automation,” said Song Dae-hyun, chief of LG’s home appliance division.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)