Automation and Digital Tools Enter the Field

In distribution and manufacturing sites, technology validation is moving beyond the lab and into actual work processes. Lotte Himart is preparing humanoid robot trials at its Icheon logistics center starting in 2028, while SeAH Besteel has begun developing and commercializing special steel materials for reducers, broadening the parts supply base that is a prerequisite for robot adoption.

This trend is less about simply expanding automation and more about securing both accuracy and continuity in labor-intensive processes. As industrial strategies to reduce dependence on foreign equipment and key materials gain traction, the use of robots is spreading beyond individual corporate experiments into an issue of supply chain competitiveness.

Service-Based Management of Sleep and Chronic Diseases

Healthcare companies are moving beyond simply selling a single drug or device toward businesses that integrate the entire flow of diagnosis, treatment, and management. Pharmaceutical companies have strengthened their distribution and platform capabilities enough to generate 51 billion won in sales last year from digital healthcare businesses, while models that link Japanese-style home sleep apnea testing with medical institution treatment and products such as the next-generation sleep management solution “AI SleepBot” point in the same direction.

Behind this are aging populations, the rise in chronic diseases, and expanding demand for continued health management outside hospitals. The fact that a sleep solution startup raised 4 billion won in a Series A investment round, and that a public research institution directly matched companies with a total of four promising technologies in sleep, respiratory, and blood circulation fields, shows that the market has entered a stage where commercialization speed matters more than research and development alone.

Simultaneous Expansion of Functional Competition and Demands for Verification

In the health functional food market, complex product designs that target multiple everyday health concerns at once, rather than a single benefit, are increasing rapidly. hy relaunched two types of “Coopers”, strengthening combinations for blood sugar, blood pressure, and fatigue management; Yuhan Corporation launched “Elena Dual”, promoting both vaginal and gut health; and hy also targeted demand for senior cognitive health with “V Food Phosphatidylserine Cognitive Care”.

However, as the market expands, verification standards are becoming just as important. Cases are emerging that reveal ingredient variation and a lack of evidence, as seen in an analysis of 201 menopause supplements sold in the UK, and given that both health functional foods and pharmaceuticals go through absorption and metabolism in the body, managing the risks of combined use is also becoming a key condition in consumer choice.

Gaps in Safety Regulation and Monitoring Systems

While industry and markets are moving quickly, there are also clear signs that safety infrastructure and monitoring systems are not keeping up. It was found that 85% of clinic-level medical institutions that frequently perform sedation lacked defibrillators, a total of 49,939 cases of unfair online advertising for general foods were detected, and in inspections conducted before Chuseok, 47 online advertisements (15.7%) were found to contain false or exaggerated claims.

These gaps show that as technologies and products become more deeply embedded in everyday life, market trust cannot be sustained through performance competition alone. Going forward, the success of commercialization is likely to depend less on adding functions and more on how thoroughly basic protective measures are put in place, such as emergency equipment standards, the speed of blocking misleading advertisements, and safety information on combined consumption.