Speaking at the first session of the 19th SteelOrbis Steel Conference “New Horizons in Steel Markets” held today, December 3, in Istanbul, Özgür Özsoy, plant director at Turkey-based steelmaker Çolakoğlu Metalurji, gave a presentation on the place of the artificial intelligence (AI) in the steel industry and on the company’s efforts in relation to the issue.
Mr. Özsoy stated that AI has started to take its place not only in every aspect of our lives, but also in the steel industry. The industry is currently facing several challenges including high operational costs due to an increase in energy prices, environmental impact, oversupply, competition, labor shortage, disruptions in the supply chain, and trade measures and tariffs. In this context, he pointed out that the industry needs to turn to innovation in terms of market advantage, sustainability, supply chains, operational efficiency, customer orientation, workforce and quality. He stressed that, AI, which is progressing every day, makes predictions based on the data that it is processing and provides significant advantages to the industry.
Regarding Çolakoğlu’s efforts in relation to AI, Mr. Özsoy indicated that the company is working on increasing the heat range in the continuous casting process in order to enhance efficiency. As a result, Çolakoğlu has managed to cut its emissions by 1,745 tons, to reduce its energy consumption by 3,500 MW per year and to gain a 20 percent advantage in heat. Additionally, the company has succeeded in integrating AI into its maintenance and repair works, detecting failures before the date of planned maintenance works and repairing them on time.
Lastly, according to Mr. Özsoy, in 2025, Çolakoğlu will continue to work on AI projects for its production processes. It plans to implement projects in the field of occupational safety and to benefit from AI’s power to make predictions to utilize it in production planning and product quality.
