Another man Mr. Byungwook Kim (25 years old at the time) was hit by careless driver in the road in 1998. As a consequence, his dream playing tennis in a national team simply disappeared.

Byungwook Kim, wear Work-on-suit in Cybathlon 2016 (Source: Professor Kong)

However, the miracle had happened to both of them due to the support of new advanced robotic technology called ‘wearable robot’. Now Mr. Kim is able to climb the stairs or even step the stones. Moreover, he won bronze Cybathlon 2016, the first Cyborg Olympic that competes robotic technologies for people with disabilities and Mr. Lee became the first person to deliver the torch in Pyeongchang Paralympic in 2018.

Wearable robots can be used in diverse sections such as protection in harsh condition (Source: Engineers Ireland)

Where we can find them?

In fact, wearable robot is already introduced in various fields. Wearable robot is applied not only for people with disabilities (paralysis of the whole body or partially) but also protection for employees from harsh conditions or life support purpose for the elders. For instance, the Korean steel manufacturing company, POSCO has applied wearable robot to manage the refractory in furnace which gave the advantage of increasing productivity by 12.6 billion won (worth as approximately 12.9 million US dollars). (Source: “Current level of Korean wearable technology?” (2016). Donga Ilbo).

The technology has brought a great improvement in terms of efficiency, enabling to save 54 days to finish the process consequently saving 12.1 billion won (worth 121 million US dollars) and the less human resources are requited that worth saving 8 hundred million won (worth 100 thousand US dollars). Furthermore, wearable robot is introduced into diverse fields such as supporting fireman or VR (virtual gaming).

SEE ALSO: Will Artificial Intelligence Lead to Breakthroughs in the Steel Industry?

Scene from ‘Iron man 3’. Wearable robot may come sooner than you anticipate (Source: theHollywoodreporter)

Is it realistic?

You can imagine the world famous move ‘Iron man (2008)’. In the movie, when Tony Stark (main character in the movie) simply calls the Iron man suit, it comes to his body automatically. As the series goes on, the technology of the suit also dramatically developed. Recently, news from the movie ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ stimulate the curiosity of new advanced technology of the Iron man suit.

Wearable robots may promise better quality of life (Source: ZDNet)

What makes that wearable robot get close to our real life rapidly? Significant improvement of wearable robot compartment such as electric motors, battery, processors can be the reason. But most of all, innovative development of material is the key factor.

Light weight, flexibility and endurance are the fundamental elements

Why materials?

Since the wearable robot is designed to fit in human body, the light weight of the structure is fundamental. Recommended materials for designing wearable robot need to be reinforced plastic or even lighter and have more flexibility.

High impact is another factor that wearable robot need to endure. The physical force of walking is the same amount of force that can bend 5mm X 10mm thickness of aluminum stick. Therefore, structure of the wearable robot should have adequate strength to protect the people who wear them. This is the reason why most of the wearable robots are made of alloy materials.

Therefore, the fundamental element for the success of wearable robot will be application of light and high impact materials into wearable robot’s structure. One of the good examples is “GIGA Steel” that has been recently invented by POSCO providing significant impression to robotic scientists by showing advanced quality on both hard impact and workability. GIGA steel is also recommendable for custom manufacture.

SEE ALSO: Auto Industry Finds Steel Solution for Lightweighting

Advanced robotic technology can lead elevation of quality of human life (Source: SG Robotics)

Pack of robots working in the factory is not just all about 4th industrial revolution. Wearable robot may play in a crucial role in improving human quality of life. With wearable robot’s help, walking disability might be considered as little discomfort in near future. Korea is one of the leading countries in wearable robotic fields and POSCO’s advanced technology may influence huge impact on the wearable robotic fields.

Dream comes true in 2068 achieving 500 billion sales?

POSCO has celebrated 50th year anniversary ‘Future vision declaration’ on April, 1st and announced future missions and visions as Top 5 world leading global steel company.

CEO of POSCO, Ohjoon, Kwon is sharing global missions and visions with audience at 50th anniversary

For the future, ‘Unlimit the Limit’

Ohjoon Kwon the CEO of POSCO disclosed POSCO’s new future slogan ‘Unlimit the Limit: Steel and Beyond’ by using TED speech method that is currently considered as one of the most efficient speech method. The mission that has been made based on POSCO’s challenges for 50 years history, is expressed the will of POSCO to ‘overcome the limit and go further to the next step’ especially challenging to non-steel industry.

POSCO is developing a plan to shift gradually from current profit system that 80% of income from steel industry to new profit system that produces profit from 3 different industrial fields: Steel, Infrastructure, New Growth in the ratio of 4:4:2. By successfully operating new profit system, POSCO expects that the mission can be accomplished by 2068 sales up to 500 billion dollars and 70 billon dollars of operating profit.

POSCO is focusing balance of 3 core elements, business, technology, culture. (Source:Bitcoinmagazine)

POSCO’s Perspective: Harmony of business, technology and culture

POSCO’s future vision also has been announced as ‘POSCO the Great’. This was the slogan that Ohjoon Kwon introduced as he had been elected as CEO of POSCO in 2014. The slogan was focused on simply recovering the strength. However, the new slogan is ‘Great Business, Great Technology and Great Culture’ indicating well-organized business structure, advanced technology and organizational culture.

POSCO has contributed significant impact on both Korean country and society in terms of steel and educational support. And POSCO has decided to keep supporting business for the country.

One of the plans that POSCO is contemplating, is establishment of the place for developing creativity for adolescent.

The ’Youth Creativity Center’(tentative) is going to be designed to provide various opportunities to adolescents such as giving experience to understand basic understanding of scientific technology and opportunity to improve creativity.

Furthermore, the ‘Youth Creativity Center’ will contain diverse spaces for culture and arts so all generations will be easy to access. POSCO is expecting the Youth center may be a competitive candidate on coming international contests.

Seoul POSCO center has opened a new product exhibition hall to communicate more with general populations and show their future vision. The exhibition hall has 30 seats visual promotion room. The room provides POSCO promotion videos and visualized POSCO images by 3D technique. Various animations and techniques are prepared to describe steels that are being used in our life and industrial demands of steel for future.

For celebrating 50th anniversary, POSCO will broadcast TV commercial named ’50 years challenge, New Dreams for next 100 years’ until June 10th and POSCO exhibition (Homage to POSCO) will be held in POSCO art gallery in lower ground level until May 8th. POSCO historical museum in Pohang is also going to open gallery (‘Visualized history of POSCO for half century’) showing numerous events during POSCO’s 50 years until June 30th.

POSCO is also preparing the event that gives valuable opportunities to share thoughts between CEO and employees in Seoul, Po hang, Kwang yang city.

‘Together the Better’, POSCO and Korea have strong bond in all history

True companion of Korean history

50 years of POSCO’s history is in the same line with Korean history which means that POSCO has been increasing growth for half century. POSCO was established in 1968, and the very first steel was manufactured in 1973. Since that year, total sales of POSCO has incredibly elevated by 686 times last year from 1973. 

Growth of POSCO gave great influence on major industry in Korea. Especially Korean automobile and shipbuilding industry had similar growth curve which means that materials manufactured from POSCO was true backbone for those industries. For instance, Korean ship manufacturing has reached to 23.5 million tons from 12 thousand tones from 1973. And automobile production also increased 4.11 million from 25 thousand cars.

SEE ALSO: What are Automobiles Made of?

Technology is another fundamental aspect of POSCO’s strength. POSCO has developed eco&efficient furnace by its own technology called ‘FINEX’ technology which fully satisfied current and future global trends, environmental and innovative. With this advanced technology, POSCO has exported its unique iron making technique in China in 2013. This describes that POSCO is global technology provider.

In addition, POSCO is the global top company that produces steel for vehicles. Approximately 9 million tons of steel for vehicle has been produced from POSCO which indicates that 25% of steel for car manufacturing is from POSCO. Simply 1 in 10 cars in global, uses steel from POSCO.

Relationship of growth between GDP per person in Korea and production of steel of POSCO

POSCO has established its own smart platform named ‘PosFrame’ that made POSCO is global leading steel company for smartization.

With all these achievements, POSCO has been listed in ‘worlds most competitive steel maker’by World Steel Dynamics for 8 consecutive years since 2010. Also POSCO has been top ranked in SAM-Dow Jones Sustainability index since 2005.

Here’s a look at how steel is produced in a steel mill or factory, and what the “smartization” of steel factories will look like.

So, how is steel made?

Iron Making

To make steel, manufacturers first need molten iron. Molten iron comes from two raw materials; iron ore and coal. Iron ore is converted into sinter ore in a sintering plant and coal is converted into raw coke using a coke oven. The processed materials are poured into a blast furnace where hot air reaching 1200℃ is blown in from the bottom through tuyeres, causing a chemical reaction. This process oxidizes the coke and reduces the sintered ore, creating molten iron.   

Steelmaking

In the steelmaking stage, the molten iron is transported to the steel making plant via a torpedo car, where the liquid is poured into a converter. Then, oxygen is blown into the converter to burn off all the impurities. All that is left is pure molten steel.

Continuous Casting

This is where steel finally becomes solidified into different shapes such as slab, bloom and billet. Liquid steel is poured into molds and cooled as it passes through a continuous casting machine until it solidifies into the desired shape.

Hot steel passes through rolling machines to be rolled into specific sizes and thicknesses. (Source: Global Sourcing Blog)

Rolling Process

During the rolling process, steel is heated once more to achieve various sizes and thicknesses. Steel slabs are heated to over 1100℃, then pass through rolling machines. This results in hot-rolled coils that can be shaped for different uses such as thick plates. They can also be processed into long, wire-shaped rods for billets. Often, the hot-rolled coils are rolled at room temperature for cold-rolled coils. Cold-rolled coils can be fabricated to produce galvanized and electrical steel products.

“Smartizating” these processes will involve converging IoT, Big Data, and AI to connect the different facilities, IT systems and workers in order to collect and analyze data for optimization.

POSCO is “smartizing” the steel-production process

POSCO is a steel company looking to lead the industry in adopting smart factories. CEO Kwon Ohjoon made “smartization” one of the 4 key priorities for POSCO starting back in 2014, and Kwon will continue to increase those investments.

POSCO smart factory incorporates artificial intelligence to enhance safety and efficiency.

SEE ALSO: How Smart Factories are Changing the Manufacturing Industry

In 2016, POSCO established its Smart Solution Council in order to research AI, big data and IoT applications. In the same year, POSCO ICT’s smart factory platform, PosFrame, was completed and installed in POSCO’s Gwangyang Steel Mill. PosFrame allows engineers to collect and monitor big data. So far, the company has saved over USD 14 million by incorporating the new technology in its production practices.

Here are some other features of POSCO’s Smart Factory.

POSCO’s Smart Blast Furnace

The Pohang Blast Furnace No.3 became a smart furnace in 2017, following a 102-day repair period. The furnace is now equipped with automated sensors that monitor and control its internal conditions using AI technology. Smart sensors monitor the blast furnace for factors like raw material quality and ventilator status, preventing breakdowns and ensuring a much longer lifecycle.

SEE ALSO: Will Artificial Intelligence Lead to Breakthroughs in the Steel Industry?

Worker Safety

Smart sensors can be used for more than just process monitoring. The company is working toward a full implementation of smart sensors for safety purposes, using IoT to create a better working environment.

Steel manufacturing involves high temperatures and high pressure levels, which is dangerous for workers who come in close contact with the equipment. With smart sensors monitoring all of the factory information, workers will instead be monitoring operation from a safe distance.

Workers in POSCO’s smart factory wear smart sensors for safety.

Wearable sensors, in conjunction with factory smart sensors, will be able to detect if and when workers are approaching potentially dangerous areas, and will alert them. These sensors will also detect and alert with regards to any impending accidents, or life-threatening situations like gas leaks, explosions, or fires.

Also, dust, sulfur, and nitrogen compounds will be removed via a high-plasma method, creating an eco-friendly steel plant and a healthier environment for workers.

POSCO will continue to add more smart features to its steel mills to increase efficiency, safety and sustainability. In efforts to learn and implement new technologies, POSCO CEO Kwon Ohjoon visited GE’s smart factories to learn about their technology earlier this year. POSCO also held the 2017 Smart POSCO Forum to share its insights with clients and affiliates, all as part of its expanding smartization efforts.

Today, the four most common materials used in race bikes are steel, aluminum, titanium and carbon fiber. The most common on the Tour are carbon fiber bikes that can range from USD 10,000~20,000 in retail price; that’s before adding the thousands of dollars worth of additional gear. The majority of competitive cyclists is not sponsored by a major bike company and cannot afford high-end bikes. Additionally, market conditions and the changing landscape of the racing industry could have manufacturers looking for alternatives.

The Race Bicycle Market

Michael O.B. Krähe analyzed the road race bicycle market trend for 2017 and beyond by looking at data from the Festive 500 Challenge on Strava, a widely-used application for tracking race times and training. In 2016, 83,000 challengers from all over the world attempted to ride 500 kilometers between Christmas and New Year’s Day, thus providing a rough but insightful representation of the global market for race bicycles.

In 2016, there was a 14% increase in the number of participants, much less than the 49% in 2015 and 54% in 2014. On the other hand, 32% more challengers completed the 500 kilometers in 2016. There was actually a decrease in the number of participants from the U.S. and Germany, two major markets for race bikes.  

Cyclists take a break from cycling

Krähe also looked into Jedermann Rennen (JDR) races in Germany, to account for cyclists who do not race or train during the winter season of the Festive 500 Challenge. The JDR, or “everyman’s race”, is an amateur version of a professional race held on the same day and route as the main event, kind of like the pro-am of golf. There was an average of 15% to 25% decline in the number of participants in JDRs from 2011 to 2016. Of those participants, more than 60% were over 40 years old and a mere 10% under 30 years old.  

The number of participants in three different JDR races from 2011-2016 (Photo courtesy of Cycling.com)

Recent changes only made things worse – there were 250,000 unsold bikes at the end of 2015, up 44% from the year before. It led to discounted prices in 2016. Then, at the end of 2016, the UCI (governing body of professional cycling) banned disc brakes, a popular feature on almost every race bike. This announcement came late when sponsoring companies were already finalizing their 2018-19 products, all with disc brakes. UCI article 1.3.007 requires all bikes used in competition to be commercially available, which could lead to another overstock of race bikes.

Bikes are placed on racks for display in a retail store

What does this mean for the race bike market?

Prices will have to drop along with the decrease in demand for race bikes. However, high performance will still be expected from race bikes by the long-time cyclists who become more devoted to the sport over time. A low-cost, well performing, and easy-maintenance bike will be the future of race bicycles.

It’s time for manufacturers to revisit the drawing board for race bikes.  

The Big Four

Most teams on the Tour de France are riding carbon fiber bicycles. Much credit is owed to Lance Armstrong who was the first Tour rider to win on a bike with carbon fiber frames. Though stripped of his seven titles as of 2012 due to doping accusations, his initial win unleashed the age of carbon fiber race bikes. The following years coupled light-weight carbon fiber with advanced technology for an outright dominance of carbon fiber frames in professional cycling.

Nonetheless, before there was carbon, there was steel, and aluminum and titanium.

From its advent to the 1970s, bicycles traditionally had steel frames, known for its strength, durability, and affordability. In the ‘70s to the ‘80s, manufacturers began turning to aluminum frames in the general wave of efforts to lightweight race bikes. To add, aluminum frames are easy to manufacture and corrosion-resistant. Titanium frames are also popular for its lightweight and durability, but it never completely dominated the market due to high costs and difficulties in manufacturing. Then came carbon and it took off.

The problem is that the technique to manufacture carbon fiber frames is high-end. Not only in its price, but if precise technology is not applied, riders will get little or none of the benefits of carbon fiber (high stiffness to weight ratio, lightweight, low thermal expansion, the ability to customize, etc.). Thus, there are few people who can actually repair carbon fiber bikes correctly, whereas any local shop can repair a steel model. Moreover, carbon fiber is non-recyclable, unlike steel which can be melted down and re-used in other ways. The UCI has also set the minimum weight requirement of race bikes at 6.8 kilograms, and non-carbon bikes can now be built down to the minimum weight.

Carbon fiber frames are also known for its bespoke qualities. Aluminum is very hard to tailor, but there is a new wave of bespoke frame workers who are choosing steel for its cost, durability, and moldability. Major brands Columbus and Reynolds are also returning to steel with their new stainless steel tubes that are light and stiff enough to give carbon fiber a run for its money.

Although the market for race bicycles is looking stagnant, this does not apply to the bike market as a whole, including transportation and leisure bikes. In fact, this market is projected to grow over the coming years according to Lucintel, a global research firm, which projected the global bicycle market to reach 59.9 billion U.S. dollars by 2021. The growth is calculated upon the cost-friendly, efficient and environmentally sustainable method of transportation bikes will provide. Steel bikes will be a driving force in this growth as well, for its affordable and sustainable qualities, ensuring it will always be in the game.  

While the Smart Energy Marketplace featured innovative products that provide electricity in more sustainable ways, the Sleep Tech Marketplace showcased exciting sleep-related technologies aimed at improving health through better sleep. Check out some of the recent advancements below and let us know what you think!

The Smart Energy Marketplace: Cleaner & Sustainable Electricity

As they do every year, tech giants and startups used CES to debut their new products and ideas. Just when it seemed that the market was saturated with enough cool floating Bluetooth speakers and mobile charging cases, CES 2017 took it to another level with new solar-powered gadgets.

• Designed by Lemon Technology, The California Roll is the first solar-powered, waterproof speaker. It lasts up to 20 hours with only 7 hours of sunlight, includes voice recognition capabilities, and uses NFC to offer a faster and more reliable connection with less energy consumption. Because it is waterproof, the California Roll is good to go, rain-or-shine.
• When your smartphone battery dies, iPowerUp is a case that can recharge the phone from solar cells located on the back. Its solar panels store energy and then charge your phone when an outlet is unavailable.

POSCO’s work in developing smart energy technology can be seen in the World Premium Product, PosMAC (POSCO Magnesium Aluminum alloy Coating). Solar cells need to be installed with materials that are both lightweight and sturdy enough to withstand the elements. PosMAC is uniquely suited for solar energy development because it is durable, light weight, and non-corrosive.

The Sleep Tech Marketplace: Better Sleep & Improved Health

Trouble sleeping? CES showcased a possible solution at its Sleep Tech Marketplace. In its first year, the marketplace showcased several products that help regulate your body’s circadian rhythm and provide a more peaceful sleep.

• If noises are keeping you up at night, Nightingale is a device that plugs into an outlet and masks common indoor and outdoor noises that can disrupt sleep patterns by adding ambient sounds, called “sound blankets.” Two speakers placed in two different units in a room utilize the walls to reflect sound and blend it into the background.
• PEGASI Smart Sleep Glasses solves a series of sleep related issues by generating lights of specific wavelengths to stimulate the suprachiasmatic nucleus on the hypothalamus, which controls the circadian rhythms that help regulate sleeping patterns.

POSCO has also been working to develop technologies that can help regulate sound for more peaceful sleep. PosCoZy was designed to provide a more peaceful and quieter living experience through a flooring system that can greatly reduce impact noise between floors in apartment buildings and offices. PosCoZy’s manganese Z-clips’ resistance to vibrations are 4x higher than regular steel. What’s more, PosCoZy helps reduce the sound of typical walking from 50 decibels to just 40dB, while impact sounds are lowered from 58dB to 38dB. That means you can sleep through the night without hearing the party going on upstairs.

Bigger and bolder than ever before, CES 2017 took great strides with new marketplaces, including the smart energy and sleep tech industries. POSCO continues to develop pioneering solutions alongside these breakthrough innovations as well to find advanced solutions for the 21^st century.

Don’t miss any of the exciting stories from The Steel Wire – subscribe via email today.

Many leading global steel companies are forming “supply networks” in order to lock in the benefits of early vendor involvement (EVI).

EVI is a collaborative strategy in which an automotive manufacturer involves a supplier at an early stage of the product development process. Due to the advantage of involving steel suppliers on cross-functional teams of product development, it gives many benefits to the OEM customer and other automotive part suppliers. Some of these benefits include lower production cost, shorter development cycle, lower development cost, etc.

Solution Exchange Visit (SEVIT) is one of the market promotional initiatives that POSCO participates in globally. This year, we conducted the “SEVIT program” in Chennai, India with many OEMs and automotive part suppliers at various locations, like the Mahindra Research Valley, Ashok Leyland Technical Centre, Wheels India Limited, Tube Product India, etc. from November 23 to November 25 of this year. A total of 11 participants from POSCO took part in this program – six representatives from POSCO R&D (including the director), four representatives from POSCO-India TSC and one sales representative from POSCO-ICPC.

POSCO R&D director Gyosung Kim, a POSCO senior researcher, and POSCO-India TSC staff take a picture with Mahindra & Mahindra research representatives, as participants of the SEVIT program at Mahindra Research Valley.

During this program, POSCO R&D’s director and senior researcher, and other TSC India staff met with many senior leaders of a major OEM.

As many knows, weight reduction of vehicles (without compromising crash resistance), energy efficiency and low emission are the biggest challenges the automotive industry is currently facing. With this interest in mind, POSCO’s R&D team presented various advanced solutions for vehicle weight reduction. It also introduced new technologies such as roll forming, POSCO Body Concept (PBC) for bus frames, first and second generation styled wheels, along with various solutions for welding challenges. POSCO’s team also demonstrated various alternate material solutions, such as PosM Steel 880, 1180CP, 1470 H-P, 1800 H-P, etc., for various automotive structural and chassis parts. Some of the parts included: styled wheel disks, reinforced side sills, door impact beams, CTBAs, stabilizing bars and lower control arms, to replace the existing usage of lower strength material.

(left) A senior researcher from POSCO R&D explains the benefits of using automotive structural and chassis parts manufactured by POSCO, on display, with advanced technology and alternate material solutions. (right) After each presentation, there was an open Q&A session. There was tremendous enthusiasm across participants, who asked many questions and queries, which were then efficiently clarified by the POSCO team.

All Indian OEM customers recognized our initiative and appreciated it as one of the benchmark promotional activities among steel suppliers in the Indian market. As none of our domestic or global competitors are doing this kind of activity in India, the program was very helpful for the growth of business and starting a new project with OEM customers. The SEVIT program turned out to be very successful, with all customers requesting to have another similar program take place in the near future.

POSCO EVI Forum Impresses With Solution Marketing

Be sure you never miss any of the exciting steel stories from The Steel Wire by subscribing to our blog.