Gyeongbuk Health College accelerates smart logistics talent pipeline with AI, data-driven training

Gyeongbuk Health College is stepping up efforts to cultivate smart logistics professionals tailored to local industry needs in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, through AI automation and data-driven practical training.

The college is accelerating the development of a smart logistics innovation model that links regional industry with university education, centering on its RISE (Regional Innovation-centered University Support System)-based K-U City strategy, the school said Friday.

As AI, automation, robotics and big data analytics rapidly transform logistics operations, the college is focusing on producing field-ready smart logistics specialists capable of leading the AI and digital transformation era — connecting Gimcheon's industrial base and corporate demand directly to its curriculum.

The logistics industry is undergoing a fundamental shift away from simple transportation and warehousing toward an advanced sector driven by AI, automation, robotics and big data. Every stage of the supply chain — from order placement and receiving through storage, picking, packing and dispatch — is now linked by data and automated systems, making logistics a core piece of infrastructure that determines the competitiveness of businesses and the pace of regional industry.

In line with these industry changes, the college runs a range of corporate partnership programs that allow students to experience real logistics environments firsthand. Students visit the facilities of logistics companies including Coupang Inc's CFS operations, GS Networks, CJ Olive Young, Pulmuone, Pasto, Acetech and Cretech to observe AI-powered smart logistics operations directly.

The cornerstone of the college's smart logistics education is what it calls "direct-to-workplace training." From the moment students enroll, they examine how companies operate, develop an understanding of job competencies and map out their career paths. The college reinforces workplace readiness through a curriculum that integrates company visits, job-specific lectures, field practicums, industry-academia joint projects and task-based assignments.

Industry-academia cooperation is also active. Coupang Fulfillment Services works with the college to provide smart logistics students with expert lectures, logistics seminars, field practicums and employment-linked youth internships — a model recognized as a regional co-prosperity partnership in which the university and companies jointly develop talent.

The college's focus on smart logistics has a clear rationale: as AI and digital transformation accelerate, demand forecasting, inventory optimization, logistics route design, and real-time data analysis and decision-making have emerged as core competencies in the field.

"The heart of logistics AI transformation is not simple automation — it is developing people who can design operations and solve problems based on data," said Yun Dong-hyeon, executive director of the North Gyeongsang ICT Convergence Industry Promotion Association. "The future of regional industry depends on securing action-oriented talent who can drive logistics innovation."

Accordingly, the college continues to expand expert lectures and practical training to help students understand how advanced technologies — AI, IoT, robotics, automation and big data analytics — are reshaping logistics operations and corporate management.

The college's smart logistics education also aligns with Gimcheon's future industry strategy. Equipped with transportation and logistics infrastructure and an innovation city foundation, Gimcheon has made the cultivation of smart logistics professionals a priority as it works to upgrade its industrial base and strengthen conditions for young people to settle in the region.

In response, the college is building a one-stop education system — centered on its Smart Logistics Department — that connects students from enrollment through coursework, corporate partnerships, field practicums and employment, while reinforcing its role as a hub for training mid-level smart logistics managers.

The college also runs smart logistics industry orientation, certification preparation and career exploration programs for students at local specialized high schools, extending its talent development pipeline to the secondary level.

The college's smart logistics curriculum stands out for giving students direct exposure to changes in the industrial field. Students build problem-solving skills by studying core logistics systems — automated equipment, fulfillment operations, cold-chain logistics, data-based inventory management, warehouse management systems and transportation management systems — through real-world case studies.

"Smart logistics education goes beyond teaching logistics tasks — it is a process of developing action-oriented professionals who can read the direction of regional industry and solve problems on the ground," said Lee Eun-jik, president of Gyeongbuk Health College. "We will continue to expand corporate-linked education, field practicums, job-specific lectures and industry-academia joint projects tied to our RISE-based K-U City strategy, further strengthening the Gimcheon-style smart logistics talent development system in which the region and industry grow together."

Meanwhile, Gyeongbuk Health College is expanding its role as a platform for regional industrial transformation through AI smart logistics education, positioning itself as an institution that designs the future of local logistics alongside its corporate partners.