Analyzing Drawings for Automatic Registration in Resource Management System
Saving 5,000 Hours Annually, Improving Data Quality
AI Agent to Be Applied to Ulsan 'Shahin Project'
S-Oil (S-Oil) is set to fully introduce artificial intelligence (AI) into its core purchasing and procurement work. Going beyond simple automation, the company is building a structure in which AI manages the entire process, from generating material data to overseeing its management.
On January 16, S-Oil announced that, as part of its 'Digital & AI Transformation,' it will implement a self-developed AI-based agent in the purchasing and procurement sector. The AI will analyze unstructured documents such as drawings and material specifications submitted by suppliers, extract key information, and automatically generate standardized material data.
The generated data will be automatically registered in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Regular data cleansing will then be carried out to continuously eliminate omissions, duplicates, and errors, thereby improving the accuracy and completeness of the material data. This means that AI will replace the manual data entry and analysis work that was previously done by hand.
The newly introduced AI agent is characterized by the integration of digital technology at every stage of the work process. Optical character recognition (OCR) technology is used to recognize supplier documents, while a large language model-based AI is utilized for material data generation and consistency verification. S-Oil expects that this will improve the quality of approximately 80,000 material data entries and save more than 5,000 hours of data processing time annually.
In particular, the company plans to apply this system to the 'Shahin Project' in Ulsan, which is scheduled for completion in the second half of this year. This large-scale project involves a total investment of over 9 trillion won and requires the management of more than 20,000 process materials. S-Oil expects that AI-based material management will contribute to risk management and enhanced efficiency in the latter stages of the project.
S-Oil has been focusing on digitalization in the purchasing and procurement sector from a relatively early stage. Since introducing an electronic procurement (e-Procurement) system in 2014, the company has expanded its use of AI to include purchase price prediction, optimal order type recommendations, and chatbot guidance for work procedures. These digital and AI innovation cases were also presented at major global events, such as the International Downstream Conference & Exhibition (IDCE) held in September last year.
In its recent New Year's address, S-Oil emphasized that AI transformation is a process of redefining problems and restructuring work processes, and pledged to continue supporting innovations that can be practically applied to field work. The company plans to expand the application of AI across all core work areas to strengthen its competitiveness and the foundation for sustainable growth.
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