South KoreaManufacturing2025 – ongoingSurplusGLOBAL
AI in dismantling used chip equipment and sorting parts
A used chip-equipment dealer applied AI to dismantling machines and sorting parts and reports a 66.7% productivity gain
Problem
SurplusGLOBAL trades used semiconductor equipment and recovers reusable parts from machines it takes apart, a step known as harvesting. The throughput of this dismantling, sorting and recovery work limits how many parts the company can resell.
Approach
The company joined the AI Factory leading project of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, which supported AI adoption at about 170 sites. It applied AI to the dismantling of equipment and to the sorting and recovery of parts. The ministry published the result in August 2026 after reviewing the 42 sites that had started earliest.
Results
Takeaway
AI was applied to the dismantling and parts-recovery work that limits resale volume. The ministry did not disclose the measurement method or baseline for the reported gain.
Categories
- Size
- Small business
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Business function
- Production and qualityLogistics and supply chain
- Innovation type
- Process innovation
- AI technology
- Computer vision
- Adoption
- Government support program
- Evidence
- Company's own claim
Sources
Source summaries
The ministry reported on its AI Factory leading project, which supported about 170 sites. Reviewing the 42 earliest sites, it reports average productivity up 30.1% and defect rates down 15.5%. It lists company results, including SurplusGLOBAL's 66.7% productivity gain from applying AI to equipment dismantling and parts sorting and recovery. It does not describe the measurement method.
Etoday reported the ministry's review the same day and named SurplusGLOBAL among the examples, with AI applied to dismantling chip equipment for reuse and to sorting and recovering parts, and a 66.7% productivity gain. It gives no further detail on the system or its cost.
Korea Data Economy News reported the ministry's manufacturing AI figures, including SurplusGLOBAL's. It warns that the 42 reviewed sites, about a quarter of those supported, were the ones where results appeared first, and cites a survey in which 82.3% of 504 manufacturers said they did not use AI in management.
Full details are in the original sources.