EcoPro to embed AI across manufacturing and R&D, targeting full transformation by 2028

EcoPro plans to introduce AI across all areas of its business, including production and R&D. The company's ambition goes beyond using AI as a simple productivity aid — it aims to fundamentally reshape how its factory floors and laboratories operate.

EcoPro announced Thursday that it will execute a three-phase roadmap for a companywide AI transformation, known internally as AX. The goal is to apply AI-based work systems across all domestic and overseas affiliates by 2028, the year the company marks its 30th anniversary, completing its transition into an "AI-centered company."

Under the roadmap, EcoPro will lay the groundwork for AI adoption this year through data standardization and pilot projects. Next year, the company will expand the scope of implementation, and by 2028 it plans to roll out a system in which AI handles tasks around the clock across all divisions. The push comes as competition in the battery materials industry increasingly centers on cost, quality and development speed, making manufacturing efficiency a top priority.

R&D will be the first area to receive AI integration. EcoPro has set a target of cutting its R&D lead time — from product development through to mass production — by 50 percent. The process currently takes a minimum of three to five years from initial product planning to the mass production stage. EcoPro intends to automate the derivation of experimental conditions and the prediction of material properties using AI.

To that end, EcoPro will train AI on accumulated data from repeated experiments and introduce a system that predicts material characteristics and optimal testing conditions. Automating large-scale experimental work is expected to reduce the burden of repetitive tasks on researchers while accelerating development at the same time.

On the factory floor, EcoPro will deploy physical AI — technology that combines AI with physical equipment such as robots, machinery and sensors to automate real-world operations. The company plans to build "autonomous manufacturing factories" and "autonomous laboratories" on this foundation.

The goal is for robots to handle high-risk tasks while experiments and production processes run continuously, 365 days a year. EcoPro also plans to introduce AI-powered robots at its EcoPro BM Hungary subsidiary, which was completed last year, to drive work automation and productivity gains.

Production line operations will also shift to a data-driven model. Where factory workers have traditionally relied heavily on experience and intuition, EcoPro will transition to an AI autonomous-control environment powered by a manufacturing data platform and machine learning. The company plans to build an "AI autonomous-control mother line" on its precursor and cathode material firing lines, targeting a 30 percent improvement in operational efficiency and manufacturing productivity.

AI will also be applied to quality control and equipment management. EcoPro expects AI to analyze and predict defect causes with 95 percent accuracy, and anticipates that a data-driven predictive maintenance system will cut energy consumption by 15 to 20 percent. Predictive maintenance detects early signs of equipment abnormalities to reduce breakdowns and shutdowns.

"We are now in an era where collaboration with AI is essential, going beyond the innovation of traditional manufacturing methods," said Lee Su-ho, executive vice president of EcoPro's AI Innovation Division. "By building an environment where employees can use AI as naturally as a colleague, we plan to improve operational efficiency across the entire workplace."