TKK Corporation…a step towards sharing, creating a platform to breathe life into SME businesses.

The industrial world has fully automated itself, creating opportunities for large companies, which typically enjoy market share and production volume advantages. With the support of automation, costs are further reduced. A product that once cost 100 baht now costs only 60 baht, a 40% reduction. With lower costs, bargaining power increases, allowing them to sell products at lower prices. For contract manufacturing companies, they can offer lower prices to clients than competitors without automation. This leads to speculation that if small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) fail to automate their production lines, they will likely face gradual shutdowns due to their inability to compete.

However, automation is a challenge for SMEs, requiring significant investment in machinery. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn, where sales are declining, simply maintaining a company's survival can be excruciatingly difficult. Where will the millions in capital come from to improve production systems? Many companies are left with a quandary, struggling to move forward and facing regression, forced to grit their teeth and hunched over. Although the Board of Investment (BOI) has implemented special measures to encourage entrepreneurs to incorporate machinery and robots into their production systems, including a 50% corporate income tax exemption for three years, small companies with limited capital are facing challenges.

In early June 2022, I had the opportunity to follow the team from TKK Corporation Co., Ltd. as they shared their knowledge of AI, research and innovation development, and supported development tools for students, staff, and faculty at universities in the Northeast. I also learned about the CiRA Core platform, which TKK Corporation recently developed under its subsidiary, CiRA Automation and Technology Co., Ltd., to provide companies with the opportunity to leverage this platform to expand their businesses at an affordable price.

CiRA Automation and Technology Co., Ltd., or "CiRA TECH," is an AI innovation platform developer. This platform leverages world-class artificial intelligence software innovations from King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) to expand and elevate the industrial sector. The company has created a Thai AI platform called "CiRA Core," designed to help Thai entrepreneurs of all sizes, from large enterprises to SMEs and startups, access cutting-edge technology at a cost of just tens of thousands of baht.

https://youtu.be/hoQ4NE3zdOo

CiRA Core is an AI technology in Deep Learning. It mimics the neuron network in the human brain, enabling precise learning, memory, analysis, classification, and decision-making. It is suitable for application in various industries, such as connecting to machines to count products. For example, in a PVC pipe factory, where employees were previously required to count the number of pipes produced or shipped, the CiRA Core platform enables accurate counting of products according to a preset program. This allows employees to be transferred to more productive tasks. Even in the agricultural sector, the CiRA Core platform can program precise fruit quality sorting, analyze maintenance, and harvest times.

It's no surprise, then, that Cira Core, an innovative AI software product from KMITL and further developed by Cira Automation and Technology, has become a popular innovation in the industrial sector. Many leading international companies are already using this Thai AI software, including Toyota, Ford, Siam Cement Group, and Seagate.

And of course, another customer group that TKK Corporation would like to see leverage the Cira Core platform to further their business is small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

“Opening up opportunities is the most important thing. Everyone may have different costs, but opportunities will create equal opportunities for everyone.” This is the goal of Ms. Kalyanee Kongsomjit, CEO of TKK Corporation Co., Ltd., in developing the Cira Core platform.

Seeing TKK Corporation's commitment, determination, and goal in developing the Cira Core platform, I'm pleased for small and medium-sized businesses who will now have access to high-quality, affordable software invented and produced by Thais to help improve the smooth, accurate, and precise production processes of goods and services within factories, stores, and other establishments. This reduces steps and speeds up the entire supply chain, helping to reduce costs for businesses, enhance consumer satisfaction, and boost overall economic productivity.

According to the Federation of Thai Industries, approximately 70% of industrial factories in Thailand are still in production systems at level 2.0 or 2.5, which are labor-intensive. Meanwhile, multinational companies investing in Thailand have upgraded their production processes to level 3, employing greater use of robots and automation systems. Similarly, data from A&B Associated indicates that manufacturing has entered an era where computers are replacing human control, with barcodes or RFID used to control production lines via a network. The faster communication response of 5G systems enables faster, more accurate, and precise machine commands.

As labor shortages in the future arise due to import controls, especially illegal labor, this could lead to a terrifying shortage of labor in many industries, especially labor-intensive ones.

From now on, it's up to entrepreneurs to open their minds to study, learn, and experiment with platforms to keep their businesses afloat amidst increasingly fierce competition.