POSCO Group Chairman Chang In-hwa said on the 2nd that "we must once again keep in mind, deep in our hearts, that safety in the workplace is a value that takes precedence even over production, sales, schedule, delivery, and profit."
Through a New Year's address released that day, Chang stated accordingly that "despite (last year's) achievements, the safety accidents that occurred one after another at the group's business sites caused great pain to the victims and their families."
Chang said, "As we greet a new year, we must ensure that such incidents (industrial accidents) do not recur," and named "safety" first among this year's key initiatives.
The key initiatives are: ▲ achieving zero-accident performance ▲ artificial intelligence transformation (AX) ▲ strengthening competitiveness in the steel business ▲ stabilizing the order-intake base for the energy materials business ▲ enhancing capability to generate revenue in the energy business.
To achieve zero-accident performance, Chang urged executives to be on the ground supporting the requirements for accident prevention, and called on employees, as owners of the workplace, to build a culture of proactively safeguarding safety.
He also called for innovating the safety management system by leveraging the capabilities of the safety-focused subsidiary (POSCO Safety Solution), and for spreading the know-how gained in the process to global business sites to establish the K-Safety model.
On AX, he emphasized expanding the intelligent factory (going beyond the Smart Factory to an intelligent plant that automatically collects and integrates data generated across all processes and makes decisions based on it).
Chang said the intelligent factory should apply unmanned technologies using robots to high-risk manual work sites and that AI literacy should also be elevated so that AI can drive performance in office functions.
He also said that to grasp market demand in time and preempt future technologies, the group should expand its research and development (R&D) infrastructure, including an Australia core resources institute and a China R&D center, and further strengthen technology capabilities to lead industrial change.
For strengthening competitiveness in the steel business, he cited achieving structural cost innovation through "CI 2030" grounded in technological prowess, completing the eight strategic product portfolios, and proceeding without setbacks on hydrogen-reduction steelmaking and electric arc furnace construction.
He called for stabilizing the order-intake base of the energy materials business by achieving research and development outcomes aligned with market demand, strengthening marketing capabilities, and improving productivity and innovating manufacturing costs through process optimization.
To enhance the capability to generate revenue in the energy business, he pointed to leveraging the U.S. Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, stabilizing the Singapore subsidiary, and investing in the area electricity business and overseas LNG power plants. He also called for pushing ahead with offshore wind, solar, and energy storage system (ESS) projects.
Chang said, "The industrial changes we face today are unprecedentedly fast and so complicated that it is hard to discern their direction," adding, "but we must stay calm, keep our balance, and doggedly seek answers in our respective positions without losing our way."
He continued, "Because byeongo is the year of the red horse, symbolizing strong passion and drive, let us execute the plans we have set with a sense of speed and move dynamically toward becoming a top-tier company."