GS Caltex completes major maintenance overhaul at Yeosu factory with AI, robotics

GS Caltex announced Thursday that it has successfully completed its first-half 2026 turnaround maintenance operation at its Yeosu factory.

A turnaround, or TA, is a large-scale periodic maintenance operation in which a refinery or petrochemical factory halts production to conduct intensive inspections of key equipment. GS Caltex carried out the first-half TA across nine process units over approximately 60 days beginning in May, committing a budget of about 200 billion won ($134 million) to the work. An average of roughly 3,000 workers were deployed on site each day.

The overhaul incorporated a range of digital and AI solutions grounded in the company's DAX (Digital & AI Transformation) strategy, boosting efficiency and safety across the entire TA process — from work planning and on-site operations to safety management.

To manage motor-operated valves, or MOVs, GS Caltex developed an in-house app called MOVision, built on Google Earth and 3D modeling technology. The app plots each MOV's location on Google Earth, significantly speeding up work, and changes color upon task completion so that remaining work stays clearly visible at a glance.

The company also deployed tube-cleaning robots to prevent the buildup of foreign matter in tube structures that are difficult to clean by conventional means. By using the robots to reach areas previously missed during cleaning, GS Caltex expects to improve thermal efficiency and reduce fuel consumption.

GS Caltex introduced AI-powered CCTV capable of detecting multiple hazards simultaneously, strengthening safety management at the TA site. The system monitored a range of risk factors in real time — including whether workers were wearing protective gear and safety harnesses and whether heavy equipment was approaching — enabling effective oversight of high-risk work zones.

"This TA is a meaningful example of combining field experience with digital and AI technology to improve both efficiency and safety at the same time," GS Caltex Vice Chairman Heo Se-hong said. "We will continue to accelerate innovation on the manufacturing floor and work to secure our future competitiveness based on the DAX strategy."