Posco Future M holds AI festival to showcase employee innovations

Posco Future M held an "AI Festival" at Postech in Pohang on Tuesday to share the results of employees' AI-driven work innovations, the company announced Wednesday.

The festival served as the culmination of the "AI 100-Day Challenge," a three-phase initiative that ran from June to build AI capabilities among staff. A total of 28 outstanding cases were recognized and awarded across two categories: AI application development for improving efficiency in office and manufacturing operations, and AI video production for internal communications, safety and education.

The company said the event marks a step toward building what it calls an "AI-Native" framework — one in which AI moves beyond simple task support to actively planning and executing work improvements, with humans stepping in only at the final stage to judge and decide.

At the event, employees behind the grand prize and excellence award nominees presented the systems they had developed. Final winners were determined by combining pre-screening scores with real-time mobile voting on the day.

The grand prize went to an "AI-based kiln heater condition prediction model." The system uses AI to collect operational data on kiln heaters — heat-treatment equipment that processes raw materials at high temperatures for cathode material production — enabling preemptive inspection and replacement. Because maintaining a consistent firing temperature is critical during cathode material production, the AI automatically gathers heater condition data to calculate failure risk and inspection priority, reducing unexpected repairs and improving production efficiency.

Two excellence awards were given: one for an "AI-based MRO integrated materials management and intelligent procurement system," and another for "unmanned SEM data acquisition and analysis automation." The MRO system — covering maintenance, repair and operations of equipment and facilities — allows users to search for a material by name, after which AI pulls together scattered information from multiple systems and recommends compatible materials and domestic substitutes. The system is expected to streamline complex procurement procedures, cutting work hours and reducing costs.

The SEM (scanning electron microscope) automation project uses AI to handle the entire process from capturing product particle images to analysis and report generation, eliminating the repetitive manual work of photographing samples one by one and organizing data. The system automatically analyzes particle size and shape, improving both accuracy and work efficiency.

The winning cases will go through on-site testing and employee feedback before being deployed in the field by the first half of 2027.

To build a foundation for mid- to long-term growth, Posco Future M unveiled a digital innovation vision in July called "BoT (Battery of Things) Ecosystem Game Changer," establishing a roadmap for process standardization and a company-wide AI transformation centered on data.

Targeting a 30% improvement in manufacturing productivity and a 50% reduction in product development time by the first half of 2028, the company identified five core strategic directions: optimizing processes and systems through AI agent integration, accelerating intelligence through a unified data hub, building an AI-powered intelligent factory, achieving end-to-end intelligent connectivity from raw materials to finished products, and deepening R&D collaboration with strategic customers.

Meanwhile, Posco Future M has been strengthening partnerships with key suppliers. The company recently signed a long-term battery materials supply agreement with Samsung SDI worth 6 trillion won ($4.49 billion), including LFP (lithium iron phosphate) cathode materials. Last month, it also signed an LFP cathode material supply deal with SK On worth about 1.1 trillion won, covering the period from 2027 to 2029.