Digital Transformation of Steel and Metal Manufacturing Processes: 22 Billion KRW Invested by 2028
Mayor Lee: "Advanced Digital Technology in Steel Industry to Create Future New Industries"
Pohang City, together with North Gyeongsang Province, has been finally selected for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's public project to establish a 'Steel and Metal Industry Digital Transformation (DX) Demonstration Center'.
Industrial Digital Transformation (DX) refers to the application of digital technologies such as big data, AI, and 5G in industrial activities to solve current challenges and create new added value.
The 'Steel and Metal Digital Transformation Demonstration Center Establishment Project' will invest 22 billion KRW (14 billion from the national government, 6 billion from local government, and 2 billion from private investment) over the next five years until 2028 to provide intensive support to local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies.
Since last September, Pohang City has actively proposed to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy the necessity of a digital transformation demonstration center and government support for SMEs and mid-sized companies that face difficulties in adopting digital transformation due to high investment costs and lack of professional manpower. Through this public offering, the city has achieved final selection.
This project aims to build demonstration infrastructure for the digital transformation of steel and metal manufacturing processes, develop a specialized process platform for steel and metal, provide tailored technologies to SMEs and mid-sized companies, and foster pilot companies.
By applying core digital technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital twin, it is expected that the existing production methods can be fundamentally improved.
In addition, by utilizing demonstration equipment to collect and analyze data, and providing optimized data to companies through simulations in virtual factories based on digital twins, the plan is to shorten on-site set-up periods, identify causes of defects, reduce costs, and ultimately enhance productivity and increase product added value.
Digital Twin is a technology that creates an identical (twin) virtual representation of real-world machines, equipment, or objects in a computer environment to verify them through various simulations.
The demonstration center will be established within the Pohang Institute of Metal Industry Advancement (POMIA), the lead organization for the project, and will collaborate with the Gyeongbuk Industrial Digital Transformation Collaboration Support Center at POSTECH and the Apple Manufacturing R&D Support Center to provide technical support and foster field-oriented professionals.
As many local SMEs and mid-sized companies wishing for digital transformation have already expressed their intention to participate and invest, Pohang City and POMIA plan to develop and support solutions based on corporate demand, operate an industry-academia-research joint digital transformation task force, and accelerate the creation of a new, sustainable manufacturing industry ecosystem by spreading digital transformation.
Pohang City held a seminar on establishing a support system for digital transformation in industrial complexes at the POSCO International Hall last October.
Mayor Lee Kangdeok said, "Pohang is the optimal city where the effects of industrial DX can be most clearly realized. By combining advanced digital technologies with the region's steel industry base, we can create new growth engines for the future. We will actively support the establishment of an industrial digital transformation foundation to bridge the digital technology gap with large corporations."
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