As artificial intelligence continues to reshape industries worldwide, economies and businesses are racing to integrate AI into their operations to stay competitive. According to the AI Maturity Matrix by Boston Consulting Group, leading economies like the United States, China, and Singapore are pioneering AI adoption, transforming manufacturing with enhanced automation, predictive analytics, and process optimization. Once limited to tech giants, these advancements are now being leveraged by industries such as automotive and high-tech manufacturing to reduce downtime, improve efficiency, and build smarter supply chains.
LG Display is part of this global AI revolution, setting new standards in OLED manufacturing innovation with its proprietary AI Production System. Let’s explore how this cutting-edge technology enhances efficiency and competitiveness in manufacturing!
Identifying Quality Issues in Displays: Like Finding a Baseball Dropped from Space onto the Korean Peninsula
Modern displays are typically made by stacking intricate micron-level circuits and emission layers onto large glass substrates measured in meters. For OLED production, this process spans over a month and involves more than 140 intricate steps. Identifying and addressing factors affecting product quality during this process is like ‘finding a baseball dropped from space onto the Korean Peninsula.’
Traditionally, it takes highly skilled engineers an average of three weeks to detect quality issues, analyze root causes, and implement improvements in the manufacturing process. This highlights the immense complexity and difficulty of the task. To minimize the time and effort involved and ultimately strengthen OLED manufacturing competitiveness, LG Display has turned to AI.
AI Cuts Process Improvement Time from 3 Weeks to 2 Days!
Display manufacturing involves the use of diverse equipment and machinery, generating and collecting massive amounts of data throughout the production process. This is where the ‘AI Production System’ truly shines, especially in the complex OLED manufacturing process. Previously, engineers relied on their individual skills and experience to analyze production data and address issues within limited timeframes and measurement conditions. If the root cause wasn’t identified immediately, they had to repeat this trial-and-error process.
However, with the adoption of the ‘AI Production System,’ designed to detect anomalies by connecting vast datasets to potential causes, real-time virtual inspections and process optimization are now possible. AI equipped with top-tier engineering capabilities and domain knowledge in display manufacturing can analyze all production data 24/7, 365 days a year. As a result, the time required for quality analysis and process improvements has been dramatically reduced from an average of three weeks to just two days. This breakthrough has exponentially enhanced data analysis capabilities while improving speed, accuracy, and efficiency.
Beyond Efficiency: ‘AI Production System’ Brings Competitive Edge to Manufacturing
The benefits of the ‘AI Production System’ extend beyond reducing process improvement time. By automating the analysis of real-time production data and integrating it with workflows, the system sends notifications to relevant departments and halts operations of problematic equipment, ensuring a more efficient work environment. Engineers can now focus less on data analysis and interpretation, dedicating more time to high-density, high-value work, such as devising solutions and implementing improvements.
Since its adoption, engineers have praised the system’s ability to thoroughly review data, noting, “AI finds improvement areas we never considered before.” LG Display also anticipates an annual cost reduction of over 200 billion KRW, underscoring the transformative impact of this system.
LG Display’s Ongoing Evolution in DX Capabilities
LG Display is expanding the application of its self-developed generative AI across internal domains such as quality, safety, standards, HR, and education through its proprietary knowledge search service. The company is also upgrading its Large Language Model (LLM) to LG AI Research’s latest model, ‘Chat EXAONE,’ while adopting collaborative tools to enhance individual productivity.
Looking ahead, LG Display plans to actively incorporate digital transformation (DX) into development and manufacturing, reinforcing its differentiated competitiveness. Stay tuned for the next wave of innovation from LG Display, building on ‘Generative AI’ for work innovation and the ‘AI Production System’ for OLED manufacturing innovation!
