Hyundai and KT sign an agreement

Hyundai Construction Equipment has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with communications company KT (Korea Telecom) for the joint development of 5G technology-based solutions for smart construction equipment and materials handling. The MOU will enable the two companies to combine their technologies, the autonomous vehicle technology of Hyundai Construction Equipment, and KT's ICT (information and communications) technologies such as 5G communication and AI, to supply advanced smart logistics solutions to the market. According to the partners, this technological collaboration will improve the remote management and the level of control of the autonomous forklift, which will also benefit from a remote service system that is operated by an AI voice control solution, video and augmented reality (AR). Hyundai CE's autonomous forklift technology is a state-of-the-art logistics solution that autonomously recognises the environment and obstacles in the workplace. It is able to navigate through the best routes on its own, which greatly increases productivity, with enhanced navigational speed and efficient use of logistics within the workspace. The risk of accidents in the workplace can be significantly reduced because the work is carried out along a planned path. The interest for this 'no contact' technology has significantly increased, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic where social-distancing is key in the workplace. Kong Ki-young, president of Hyundai CE, says: "In addition to autonomous forklifts, we will supply the entire logistics solution covering the control system, charging facilities, warehouse management system (WMS), and manufacturing execution system (MES) to lead the market." Jeon Hong-Beom, vice president of KT, sees the collaboration as "a springboard to advance materials handling using the new technologies, such as 5G and AI". "We expect this innovation in manufacturing and logistics fields to become a reality. KT will continue to push ahead with digital transformation of Korean industries by use of our ICT capabilities."