Gwangyang Steelworks Develops 'Quality-Facility Anomaly Prediction System'

First Among All POSCO Sites... "Immediate Response to Equipment Anomalies"


Sequential Expansion to Steelmaking, Cold Rolling, and Plating Plants by June

Gwangyang Steelworks of POSCO (Plant Manager: Ko Jae-yoon) has become the first among all POSCO sites to develop the quality-facility anomaly prediction system PIMS-Q (POSCO Intelligent Maintenance System-Quality) in order to proactively prevent quality defects and boost productivity.

PIMS-Q, developed collaboratively by the EIC Technology Department of Gwangyang Steelworks, the hot rolling unit, and the quality technology department, is a comprehensive monitoring system that allows frequent tracking of fundamental data from quality facilities—production equipment directly linked to product quality. The system was designed to monitor equipment based on a variety of data, such as width, thickness, temperature, flow, and pressure, all of which can affect the final quality of products, and to immediately identify any anomalies.

View of Gwangyang Steelworks.

In particular, by providing real-time monitoring based on data, the system enables immediate response to any abnormal situations in the equipment. As a result, various defects that may occur in manufactured products can be proactively prevented, leading to a significant improvement in quality.

For example, in the hot rolling process, high-pressure water is sprayed to remove iron oxide from slabs and improve surface quality. If the pressure of the high-pressure water is insufficient during this process, iron oxide may not be adequately removed, resulting in quality defects. By using PIMS-Q to continuously monitor pressure data in real time, it is now possible to ensure that high-pressure water is always sprayed at the appropriate pressure, thereby preventing such quality defects.

Additionally, the system enables real-time monitoring of a variety of basic data, such as the appropriate cooling temperature to maintain and improve the quality of hot-rolled products and the temperature of equipment bearings to prevent improper slab heating. This makes it possible to preemptively block and respond to factors that could affect quality.

By March of this year, Gwangyang Steelworks had completed the implementation of PIMS-Q at all hot rolling plants, creating an environment in which operators can remotely monitor equipment from the operating rooms of production departments. The company also plans to sequentially expand the application to other plants, including steelmaking, cold rolling, and plating, by June.

Tae-won Kim, Head of the EIC Technology Department at Gwangyang Steelworks, said, "Gwangyang Steelworks has developed PIMS-Q for the first time to further strengthen POSCO's quality competitiveness and significantly enhance productivity," adding, "We will continue to drive technological innovation to further solidify our status as the most competitive steel company in the world."

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