SK Telecom is expanding its industrial AI business in collaboration with manufacturers.

SK Telecom announced that it will revitalize its industrial AI business by signing a commercialization agreement with automotive parts manufacturer Hwashin for a "Welding AI Solution" that manages welding quality using AI technology.

'Industrial AI' aims to apply and expand deep learning-based AI technology to major production processes to achieve complete automation of production processes by combining industrial expertise with AI technology.

SKT said it is securing industrial AI-related technologies necessary for core processes in automobile parts manufacturing, such as the 'Welding AI Solution' that identifies internal and external defects occurring in the welding process and the 'Die-Casting AI Solution' that identifies defects in real time in the high-pressure casting process, and is expanding cooperation with various manufacturers.

The 'Welding AI Solution' that recently signed a commercialization contract with Hwasin This is a specialized solution that uses deep learning-based AI analysis of collected data to identify internal and external defects in the welding process during the manufacturing of automobile parts.

SKT said that 'SKT Welding A'I is the only commercial solution in Korea or abroad that can detect internal defects in the welding area. It is expected to be particularly effective in welding chassis, electric vehicle battery cases, and aluminum parts, which are the skeleton of automobiles, and its application is expected to expand to shipbuilding and heavy industry fields in the future.

Hwasin, a company specializing in the welding field and manufacturing of automotive chassis, expects that this contract will establish a foundation for quality control and process automation in the production of various automotive parts.

Meanwhile, prior to this commercialization contract, SKT and Hwasin signed an 'AI-based smart factory business cooperation agreement' in 2020 and have been verifying the validity of the technology for identifying internal and external defects in welding, and have been continuing R&D cooperation for the development of an automatic rewelding process.

Choi Nak-hoon, head of SKT Smart Factory CO (Company), emphasized, “In the industrial AI field, AI technology and manufacturing expertise can be combined to create the best synergy, so the collaboration with Hwashin, Korea’s number one automobile chassis manufacturer, is very meaningful.” He added, “We plan to continue to expand cooperation with various companies in the root industry, which is the foundation of manufacturing competitiveness, and contribute to enhancing industrial competitiveness.”

Jeong Seo-jin, CEO of Hwashin, said, “Based on our collaboration with SKT, we have verified the effectiveness of our welding AI solution in the manufacturing process through the field application of industrial AI. Starting with this, we will continue to develop new technologies such as automatic re-welding capable of self-optimization.” He added, “Going forward, we will play a major role in strengthening the competitiveness of the domestic automobile industry by leading not only manufacturing process innovation but also quality innovation.”