Out-of-the-box ideas generated by employees are the next business items.

POSCO ICT is earning raves for the successful way it is generating creative ideas from its employees, developing ideas for commercialization, and producing tangible business results. Today, the convergence trend has seen the integration of different technologies like IoT, Big Data, and artificial intelligence. The goal of the company is to use the talents of its employees to generate ideas for integrating and fusing different technologies from which new business concepts can be developed. 

● Generation & Development of New Business Ideas Internally Through a Dedicated Team

Last year, POSCO ICT began operating a dedicated team tasked with generating and developing new ideas from its employees. Normally, the mission of a new business team is the large-scale development of new businesses. Note, however, that the role of this team is to study the feasibility of new business concepts by taking old ideas, fusing them in new ways, or reinterpreting them by adding creativity and imagination. The concepts are implemented by the team to determine the likelihood of success or failure.

Another interesting aspect is the adoption and operation of the skunkworks model first used by Lockheed Martin Company in the US to take business ideas from concept levels to detailed action steps for commercialization. Once an idea is selected for business development, employees are recruited for participation in the skunkworks. Then, in a closed review process, the skunkworks employees develop each idea further and decide whether to proceed to the next stage of development or to drop it.
 

● Gradual Emergence of visible Results

A total of 120 ideas were proposed by employees last year, with 18 cases selected and developed into business plans by skunkworks teams. Finally, 9 cases of the business plans were selected and are currently in the commercialization stages.

One of the selected business ideas dealt with applying energy harvesting technology to collect the heat generated at industrial sites and using it for power generation. Energy harvesting is a currently existing technology that can be used to gather small discarded energies around our daily lives in the form of vibrations and heat and convert them into energies for consumption. POSCO ICT is participating in a geothermal power generation business that uses the energy harvesting technology to gather heat from underground water sources in the Heunghae district of Pohang and generate power. Geothermal power generation is commercially viable only in regions with high geothermal energies, such as areas near hot springs and active volcanoes. This is the first of such project being pursued in Asia, so it has attracted a lot of interest.

Another idea proposed by employees was the “Smart Equipment Diagnostics,” a technology that allows real-time monitoring of equipment status. Equipment in industrial settings give off unique signals (signature) in the form of vibrations, sound, or heat. The concept behind “Smart Equipment Diagnostics” is to monitor the status of equipment by analyzing these signature data. Equipment can then be managed more smartly. If “Smart Equipment Diagnostics” is adopted in equipment maintenance, signs of impending defects can be detected and eliminated before breakdowns occur; thus leading to benefits in cost and time savings. POSCO ICT launched a pilot project to implement this technology in heavy plate mill plants at its Pohang steel yards.

 “The unique feature [of the team] is that new business models are being developed not only from new technologies but also from existing ones by adding creativity and imagination and fusing the technologies in new ways. These activities are meaningful because the ideas created by employees are commercialized for development into future sources of income,” a POSCO ICT representative said.