POSCO Future M (003670.KS) has unveiled a blueprint to boost productivity by 30% and cut product development time by 50% within two years through physical artificial intelligence (AI)-based manufacturing innovation. The move is seen as a strategy to counter China's low-price offensive through an AI transformation (AX).
On the 28th, POSCO Future M presented "Game Changer of the Battery of Things (BoT) Ecosystem" as its digital innovation vision and announced a company-wide AX roadmap. BoT carries the meaning of "a world where all things are connected through batteries."
POSCO Future M plans to apply AI across the entire process, from raw material procurement to product manufacturing and collaboration with client companies, laying the foundation to grow into a global materials company. As key initiatives, the company selected: AI agent-integrated process and system optimization; acceleration of intelligence based on an integrated data hub; realization of intelligent factories using AI; end-to-end (E2E) intelligent hyper-connectivity from raw materials to products; and enhanced research and development (R&D) collaboration with strategic customers.
If the AI-based manufacturing innovation, targeted for completion in the first half of 2028, is successfully concluded, the company expects to raise manufacturing productivity by 30% through the intelligent transformation of manufacturing processes based on physical AI. In the R&D sector, the company plans to halve product development time by applying AI-based technology trend analysis, design, and virtual verification, and to double the speed of client responses—such as root-cause analysis of quality issues and corrective actions—by utilizing quality analysis robots.
Marketing will also become more strategic and proactive. The company will actively introduce AI simulation across everything from raw material price forecasting to client demand outlooks and sales price negotiations. In terms of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, the company will also build a system that uses AI to automatically identify, diagnose, and optimize inefficient facility operations, reducing energy consumption and improving operational efficiency.
"We plan to apply AI agents by default to newly developed systems to minimize staff intervention, and to cultivate at least one AI application expert per department within the year to lead the discovery and execution of AI tasks, thereby driving the spread and settlement of AI manufacturing innovation results," a POSCO Future M official said.
