The Comprehensive Support Project for Business implemented by the Korea Institute of Materials Science(KIMS) made a great contribution to the participating companies’ operational output. The result was revealed through the result evaluation conference held on February 15th to analyze the project performance. KIMS, a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT, has invested its budget for the project for two consecutive years.

The Comprehensive Support Project for Business aims to support product manufacturing process improvement, development of new products, securing intellectual property rights, and marketing. The project supported 16 companies in 2 fields: △ In the field of innovative technologies in emerging industries, KIMS has selected and supported businesses with carbon-reducing material and process technology and high-capacity/long-life secondary battery, high-efficiency solar cell, offshore wind power, and useful resource technology; and △ in the field of materials and parts commercialization, businesses related to materials and parts.

KIMS confirmed that 12 out of 16 participating companies achieved a total of KRW 42.9 billion in new sales and saved about KRW 3 billion, and 13 companies created a total of 40 new jobs. In addition, the institute provided 2 cases of marketing support, 3 cases of new market development support, and 1 case of new business planning support. In particular, 13 companies (40% of the companies participating in this project) have won up to 5 government projects with the support of KIMS, and 8 companies (25%) are currently commercializing the KIMS-transferred technology.

KIMS has also provided technical support to solve local companies' empirical difficulties in material, parts and equipment (MPE) industry in connection with the Metal Material Demonstration Test Bed Establishment Project implemented together with Gyeongsangnam-do and the city of Changwon. By optimizing the mass production of key items produced by local companies in Gyeongnam and Changwon and actively supporting companies using demonstration test bed equipment, it was confirmed that KIMS' manufacturing demonstration technical support project for specialized local companies greatly contributed to the production and commercialization of prototypes such as titanium alloy diffusion bonding products and superheat-resistant alloy ingots. The key of this project is to reduce test bed equipment usage fees by up to 2 million won per company and is scheduled to be promoted for a total of three years until 2024.

Jung-hwan Lee, the President of KIMS, said “The ultimate goal of a company is to create new business opportunities and increase sales through the company’s internalized technology. KIMS will do our best to support commercialization as a top priority and play a pivotal role to meet the national mission based on industry-research cooperation.”