[Client Case] Hanmi Pharmaceutical: “Introducing OCR has decreased work time and has made digital transformation innovation possible.”
Hi, this is NAVER Cloud Platform.
Today, we’d like to introduce “Hanmi Pharmaceutical,” a pharmaceutical company that has achieved smart plant automation through OCR (Optical Character Recognition) service.
So, what is OCR?
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is a technology that uses scanners to recognize printed or handwritten documents and convert document content into digital data. There is no need to manually type out the information on the paper document onto the computer. OCR devices automatically enter the text data from the document directly onto a computer!
Many companies in various areas have already introduced NAVER Cloud Platform’s OCR to improve work efficiency and maximize user experience, including KPMG and Mirae Asset Capital.
NAVER Cloud Platform’s OCR price starts at 3 KRW per case and maintains a typeface recognition 15 percent higher and a handwriting recognition that is three times higher than those of other companies’ OCR!
Hanmi Pharmaceutical stated that they chose NAVER Cloud Platform’s OCR because of its excellent handwriting recognition and development potential. We interviewed Mr. Seonghwan Hong to find out how OCR was applied to Hanmi Pharm’s (Hwaseong) Paltan smart plant!
“OCR allowed us to achieve plant automation and digital innovation.”
- Seonghwan Hong, Director of Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s Management Information Team
Please tell us a little about your company.
Hello. I’m Seonghwan Hong, the director of management information team in Hanmi Pharmaceutical in charge of OCR. To be brief, Hanmi Pharm was founded in 1973 and has grown alongside the Korean pharmaceutical industry. We’ve contributed to new research topics that developed the first incrementally modified drug in Korea, new formulations, and innovative formulations as industry pioneers. And we’ve been leading trends in the Korean pharmaceutical industry through Korean pharmaceutical R&D. We have continued to devote the best R&D investment in the industry, investing more than 10 trillion KRW over the past 10 years, which is more than 15% of sales on average every year. Our main products include the widely-known Tenten Chewable Tab and PalPal. And our ethical drugs include Amosartan, Rosuzet, and Esomezol. Hanmi Pharm is developing into a global pharmaceutical company, growing beyond Korea.
We heard that there was a big change in your production processes. Could you tell us what it is?
It’s in Paltan smart plant that we introduced in 2018. Our smart plant has the most massive production in Korea with automated production, process, and logistics in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era. Hanmi Pharm’s smart plant consists of a production building with the latest automation and production facilities and a management building with a pharmaceutical preparation research center and an automatic warehouse. Our smart plant can produce 6 billion tablets a year and is a dedicated plant for solid medicines. It is designed with a vertical production structure, from weighing raw materials for medicines on the 7th and 6th floor to packaging finished products on the 1st floor. This architecture has led to a paradigm shift in the pharmaceutical industry by setting a new standard in automated production, processes, and logistics.
In automated factories, do machines work instead of humans? That would be safer, considering COVID-19!
With our perfect automation system, we’ve created an environment where machines work instead of humans. We’ve introduced the latest facilities such as AGF, RGV and conveyors, to produce medications with minimal workforce through automated logistics, production, and processes. We’re also enforcing integrated operation and optimal quality control for the production process by establishing wired and wireless networks of various GMP systems such as ERP, MES, and LIMS. To prepare for unexpected situations in operation such as COVID-19, we’re operating a safe workplace by publishing and managing CSR reports. We started this in 2018, and became the first in the Korean pharmaceutical industry to do this. Moreover, we have integrated control over the manufacturing support facilities, water system for manufacturing, and the clean room. And we’re monitoring situations in about 200 locations within the complex in real time.
We heard that you’re automating both manufacturing sites and offices. Could you tell us the details?
Operation Information Team has introduced the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s latest digital technologies to develop the company into a digital innovation company. We call it Hanmi Pharm’s digital transformation. In particular, we’re automating offices by introducing the latest technologies such as big data, AI, chatbot, RPA, and HCI. We have the best IT capability in the Korean pharmaceutical industry. We’ve also recently decided to introduce OCR to automate document management and thus chose to use NAVER Cloud Platform’s OCR service.
Why did you decide to use NAVER Cloud Platform’s OCR?
Previously, Paltan smart plant’s GMP department was managing data manually. Because we had to check the data in the scanned PDF document and input the management file by hand, we spend a lot of time on the data. Therefore, the Management Information Team reviewed the automation solution to innovate and improve work time and efficiency and discovered NAVER Cloud Platform’s OCR.
Have you ever used other companies’ OCR? If so, please tell us about the strengths of NAVER Cloud Platform’s OCR.
Before implementing an OCR solution, our priority was finding a tool that had the best Korean handwriting recognition. Some of the documents we try to automate include documents in printed, word processor text, while others include Korean handwritten documents. Many OCR companies are currently developing technologies, but handwriting recognition is still a technical challenge to overcome. Yet, NAVER Cloud Platform’s OCR premium version service that launched this year has better handwriting recognition than any of its competitors.
How are you using OCR?
We’re using the OCR service by combining it with our existing RPA system. RPA is a work automation system that replaces employees’ work. We convert the document in PDF into an image, and then extract the data using NAVER Cloud Platform’s OCR. And we’re automatically entering the extracted data in the management file. RPA automatically performs this entire process, so when a user uploads only a document to a public workbox, the data is automatically extracted and organized.
What are the advantages of using NAVER Cloud Platform’s services?
We think the notable advantages of NAVER Cloud Platform’s services are stability, convenience, and possibility. There hasn’t been a single system failure while using NAVER Cloud Platform’s services thanks to NAVER Cloud Platform’s instructions sent via SMS and emails in advance when working on the system. Also, since we’re working in a cloud environment, it is very convenient that we can use the solutions freely on any PC without any installing additional programs. Furthermore, we greatly appreciate being able to receive high-quality services with continuous system upgrades.
Please tell us about your future direction of collaborating with NAVER Cloud Platform and your plans.
We plan to continue improving handwriting recognition. While the OCR tool recognizes handwritten documents pretty well now, the two companies will collaborate to realize improvement and recognize handwriting more precisely. We’re also planning to introduce more AI services for Hanmi Pharm’s digital transformation. Other than OCR, we will be reviewing more AI services so that Hanmi Pharm can be a model for digital innovation companies.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical mentioned that stability, convenience, and possibility are the top advantages offered by NAVER Cloud Platform.
Specifically, they mentioned the cloud infrastructure’s stability, the convenience of using cloud-based services on any PC without installing any software, and the possibility with continuous system upgrades. (Thank you!!!)
NAVER Cloud Platform’s OCR service with excellent recognition of printed and handwritten text!
We improved our service once in June, adding a multi-box recognition feature to more accurately and conveniently recognize letters or numbers in continuous input boxes. Plus, you can link this service with our chatbot system that recognizes images as well.
OCR has been instrumental in work innovation and automation in various industries. So, we will endeavor to improve our service to help your services operate more stably.
Please check out more information about OCR in the page below.
To learn more about NAVER Cloud Platform’s service, visit the following website.
