S-OIL Presents 'AI Purchasing System' as an Innovation Case to Global Experts

Introduction of AI Procurement System Case by Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP)

Redefining Traditional Procurement Paradigm... Highly Valued for Cost Reduction and Increased Operational Efficiency

S-OIL’s ‘AI Purchasing System’ has attracted attention from purchasing experts worldwide.

S-OIL presented the 'AI Purchasing System' to global experts.

On the 10th, S-OIL introduced the innovative case of implementing the AI purchasing system to global purchasing professionals during a webinar hosted by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) in the United States.

As part of its Digital Transformation strategy to enhance corporate competitiveness, S-OIL has been advancing the purchasing system by integrating AI technology into the already established purchasing system.

They have built price and demand forecasting models that consider internal purchasing data from the past 10 years and external market price fluctuations of raw materials to determine the optimal procurement timing, utilizing this for purchasing strategy formulation. In addition, by using the Auto PO item recommendation function and expanding long-term contracts, they are preparing for supply chain instability.

The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) is the world’s largest association for supply chain experts, founded in 1963 with the purpose of promoting research and knowledge dissemination in supply chain management.

It has established a global network of about 9,000 experts representing government and academia across nearly all industrial sectors, providing communication among members, cutting-edge research, and opportunities for online and on-site professional education.

Jihye Lee, team leader at S-OIL who presented at the webinar, said, “S-OIL’s AI purchasing system redefines the traditional corporate purchasing paradigm and has been highly evaluated for its effectiveness in opening new opportunities for cost reduction and work efficiency improvement, making it a rare case of innovation presentation by a domestic company.”

Team leader Jihye Lee explained, “The refining energy industry is a capital-intensive process industry greatly influenced by international market factors and raw material price volatility. It requires technical complexity and advanced expertise in facilities, and must also meet environmental and safety regulations, making it a specialized field. By utilizing the AI purchasing system, we have not only simplified purchasing procedures but also gained insights into market trends, contributing to the company’s profitability and sustainable growth.”

She added, “Attendees involved in purchasing worldwide actively asked questions during the Q&A session about the time taken to build the system, the process of collaborating with the IT provider Samsung to develop the system, methods of collecting external market variables, and data upload methods for analyzing past purchasing history, showing great interest in our advanced purchasing system.”

S-OIL is systematically implementing an enterprise-wide digital transformation roadmap based on IT new technologies. It has successfully completed core digital transformation tasks in three areas: Digital refinery, Digital marketing, and Smart work. From this year, over the next three years (2024?2026), it will pursue a second-phase digital transformation strategy by researching and analyzing the latest technology trends and advanced domestic and international cases to continuously improve efficiency through productivity enhancement and cost reduction.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.