POSCO DX to focus on AI-led intelligent factory systems

POSCO DX Co., an IT service arm of South Korea’s POSCO Group, will transform into an AI-enabled intelligent factory system developer to automate risky and labor-intensive work at industrial sites, its robotics and automation center head said on Thursday.

POSCO Holdings Inc. picked industrial robots and AI as key to enhancing productivity and workplace safety for its core businesses, including steel and battery materials.

To that end, POSCO DX is developing intelligent factory systems incorporating AI beyond a smart factory, Yoon Sukjune, senior vice president at POSCO DX and head of its robotics and automation center, said in its media day.

Early this year, it launched the robotics and automation center as part of efforts to increase investments in relevant technology and talent recruitment.

It is working on replacing human workers with robots for the band-cutting process, a risky task, at the cold-rolled steel production lines in Pohang, 260 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

The automation system will be introduced at other manufacturing sites for stainless steel and electrical steel sheets.

At the stainless steel production lines, robotic automation has been implemented in the process of inserting a reinforcing pad into the sharp cut surface at the end of the reprocessed coil to ensure worker safety and improve production efficiency.

POSCO DX and POSCO Future M Co., a rechargeable battery materials supplier, are carrying out tests to apply a robot-based automation system to the process of replacing saggers, or fireproof containers that hold and bake cathode materials.

The two companies are also working on introducing the automation system to the nickel, cobalt and aluminum (NCA) cathode materials plant under construction in Pohang, which it aims to complete by the end of this year.

Additionally, POSCO DX is seeking to adopt automated guided vehicle (AGV) control systems that manage collaboration and task allocation between different types of robots at industrial sites. It is also developing real-time control technology for AGVs and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).

Yoon said the company has been focusing on building the relevant capabilities in 2023 and 2024.

“From next year, we will be a top-tier robotics and automation solutions company,” he noted.

Write to Sang-Hoon Sung at uphoon@hankyung.com
 

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.