The “smart factory” is a very comprehensive concept. In a broad sense, smart factories deal with production, sales, purchases, and distribution.
The Smart Factory Technology Team at Dangjin Integrated Steelworks focuses primarily on the “smart production” field. The goal of the Smart Factory Technology Team is to quantify and digitalize the knowledge of experienced steel processing managers. The Smart Factory Technology Team is responsible for three major tasks: talent training, technical support, and infrastructure construction. These three major tasks are essential to transforming the steel mill and making it more artificially intelligent.
Son Byung-jong of the Smart Factory Technology Team names “smooth communication with other teams” as one of the team’s essential qualities. When the team tackles tough questions, such as “Can AI be used in this particular process?” it is necessary to communicate with other teams to analyze the technology behind the process and come up with a solution. Since members of the Smart Factory Technology Team work so closely with other teams, it is important for team members to be knowledgeable about all steel mill processes.
Some people may think that the Smart Factory Technology Team is comprised mostly of people with computer science, statistics, and AI doctorates, but in reality, highly experienced professionals in the electrical, mechanical, and electronic fields make up half of the team. The team must understand on-site physical interactions and processes and then apply this knowledge to statistics and computer science. Last March, the team created the Smart Factory Academy to teach their coworkers more about unfamiliar concepts such as artificial intelligence, big data, and machine learning.
Workers who participate in the 16-week study program learn about five topics, including deep learning, algorithm optimization, network technology, computer science, and the latest industry trends.
The Smart Factory Technology Team is a new team, but it is rising as the steel mill’s “new brain” in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The ten members of the high-flying Smart Factory Technology Team are true heroes of the steel mill for a new future.
