China Iron and Steel Association: Transforming "AI+Steel" into a new driving force for development

The 4th Exchange Conference on Digital Solutions for the Iron and Steel Industry and the 2025 Iron and Steel Industry Digital Transformation Assessment System Promotion Conference proposed

—More actively embrace the digital wave, transforming "AI+Steel" into new development momentum

From June 5th to 6th, the 4th Exchange Conference on Digital Solutions for the Iron and Steel Industry and the 2025 Iron and Steel Industry Digital Transformation Assessment System Promotion Conference, organized by the China Iron and Steel Association (hereinafter referred to as CISA), and co-organized by the Steel Branch of the Intelligent Manufacturing System Solutions Provider Alliance (hereinafter referred to as the Alliance), the Iron and Steel Industry Digital Transformation Promotion Center (hereinafter referred to as the Promotion Center), SupCon Technology Co., Ltd., and the Metallurgical Technology Development Center, was held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.

Jiang Wei, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Vice President and Secretary-General of CISA; Tang Lixin, Vice President of Northeastern University and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; Feng Chao, Deputy Secretary-General and Director of the Science, Technology and Environmental Protection Department of CISA; Chu Jian, Founder of SupCon; Cui Shan, Chairman and President of SupCon Technology Co., Ltd.; Han Li, Director of the Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Research Office, IoT Research Center, China Electronics Standardization Institute; Cong Liqun, Member of the National Intelligent Manufacturing Expert Committee, and other leaders and experts attended the conference. The conference was respectively presided over by Feng Chao, Fu Xinfeng (Director of CISA's Science, Technology and Environmental Protection Department and Executive Secretary-General of the Alliance), and Zhao Lujun (Assistant to the President of SupCon Technology Co., Ltd.).

Jiang Wei pointed out in his speech that the iron and steel industry urgently needs to achieve cost reduction, efficiency improvement, green low-carbon, and sustainable development through advanced technology and scenario-based innovative applications. The entire industry should more actively embrace the digital wave, transforming "AI+Steel" into new development momentum, and realizing the full-factor upgrading of the iron and steel industry. In this regard, he discussed three points.

Firstly, adhere to standard leadership, scientific evaluation, and clarify the direction and path of digital transformation in the industry. The compilation of the industry standard "Digital Transformation Maturity Assessment for the Iron and Steel Industry" is not only an important part of the industry's three-year action plan for digital transformation but also an important reference for standardizing and unifying the direction and path of digital transformation in the industry. The assessment standard involves 5 capability domains: "resources and guarantees, intelligent production lines, digital production, digital operations, and data," as well as 32 sub-capability domains. It formulates assessment strategies from multiple dimensions, comprehensively and deeply, providing practical reference actions and quantitative bases for the implementation of corporate digital transformation and intelligent upgrading projects, and promoting the transformation of assessment methods from single and static to comprehensive and联动. It is hoped that this assessment work can effectively help enterprises identify bottlenecks, pain points, and difficulties in the transformation process, and then leverage platforms such as the Intelligent Manufacturing Alliance and the Digital Transformation Promotion Center to plan well and organize phased and orderly implementation. Align digital transformation with the industry's long-term goals, promote construction through evaluation, combine evaluation with construction, focus on construction, and form a good ecosystem for the continuous healthy development of digital transformation in the industry.

Secondly, deepen technological innovation, integrate applications, and discover new momentum for high-quality development in the industry. A series of deep integrations such as "AI+Steel Manufacturing" and "AI+Steel Operations" will surely become effective competitive advantages for China's steel industry in terms of cost reduction, quality improvement, and efficiency enhancement in the future. With the support of strong digital capabilities, China's steel industry will undoubtedly become a leader and innovator in the global steel industry. The iron and steel industry should continuously track new trends in technological development, embrace new technologies with an open mind, and constantly explore the application of new technologies in improving efficiency, optimizing processes, enhancing quality, and improving workflows, forming high-value, replicable, and distinctive solutions. By connecting points to lines and lines to surfaces, gathering the wisdom of the entire industry, cultivating new productive forces, and jointly drawing a magnificent blueprint for the high-quality development of the industry.

Thirdly, strengthen industry exchanges, clarify supply and demand, and jointly build an innovative, collaborative, and win-win steel ecosystem. Over the past three years, CISA has collected more than 500 excellent digital transformation solutions and typical scenarios from the entire industry through various channels, selected 285 outstanding projects, compiled them into a book, and promoted them for sharing across the industry. It is hoped that this conference will serve as an opportunity for more enterprises and resource providers to gather on these platforms, and through organizing technical exchanges and promotional activities, jointly promote the high-quality, efficient, green, and sustainable development of the iron and steel industry. At the same time, continue to leverage the leading role of the Alliance and the Promotion Center, continuously optimize and improve the service system, more efficiently promote industry resource sharing and complementary advantages, and empower the deep integration and new development of the entire steel industrial chain.

In his report, Tang Lixin shared the core theory proposed by his team for intelligent industrial data analysis and optimization, namely DAO theory (Data Analytics and Optimization). He constructed a Perception-Discovery-Decision-Execution (PDDE) vertical hierarchical framework, and through the "three transmissions and one feedback" management method, achieved full-dimensional organic management of production, logistics, and energy. Among these, independently developed industrial software systems such as steel scheduling, logistics scheduling, and energy analysis and optimization have been successfully applied in domestic enterprises.

Cui Shan stated in his speech that digital technology is currently reshaping the entire process of steel production. He pointed out that the complexity of production processes and application scenarios in China's iron and steel industry brings a rich variety of solutions, but also poses numerous challenges in the industry's transformation: on one hand, the personalized needs of many steel companies may lead to problems such as repetitive R&D and resource waste; on the other hand, issues like inconsistent standard systems and data silos remain prominent. Given the historic opportunity of rapid AI technology development, the industry needs even more to base itself on high-quality data, fully leverage the empowering value of AI, and jointly build an AI ecosystem for China's iron and steel industry to promote leapfrog development.

At the conference, the "Guidance for the Construction of Industrial Software Standard System in the Iron and Steel Industry," compiled by CISA, was officially released.

During the speech session, the conference first interpreted industry policies, relevant construction guidelines, and development trends. Chu Jian delivered a speech titled "Industrial AI Models Driving Intelligentization in Process Industries," stating that there is no digitalization without automation, no intelligentization without digitalization, and industrial AI requires algorithms and data, making "industrial AI fully possible." Cong Liqun, in his speech titled "Rethinking AI Large Models Empowering Intelligent Manufacturing," proposed that in the digital era, maximizing the use of data assets minimizes the consumption of physical assets, and the development and application of AI represent new productive forces generated by accelerated allocation and transformation of data assets. Han Li provided a detailed interpretation of the "National Intelligent Manufacturing Standard System Construction Guide (2024 Edition)."

Subsequently, experts from SupCon Technology Co., Ltd. and 14 other entities shared their innovative cases and practical experiences, focusing on topics such as artificial intelligence, data governance, industrial internet, and localization, and covering professional directions and hot topics like production scheduling and control, production process control, product quality management, energy optimization, customer service, and new product R&D.

On the afternoon of June 4th, the 2025 Iron and Steel Industry Digital Transformation Assessment System Promotion Conference was held concurrently. Four experts, namely Liu Dong, Associate Researcher at Ansteel Group Economic Development Research Institute; Peng Yanhua, Chief Scientist at MCC CEI Information Technology (Chongqing) Co., Ltd.; Li Jian, Senior Presales Engineer at Jiangsu Jinheng Information Technology Co., Ltd. Presales Support Department; and Wu Yiping, Senior Director at Shanghai Baosight Software Co., Ltd., respectively provided detailed explanations on the "Digital Transformation Maturity Assessment for the Iron and Steel Industry" industry standard and the 2025 Iron and Steel Industry Digital Transformation Assessment reporting requirements, and answered questions raised by enterprise representatives.

Over 200 representatives from steel enterprises participating in the digital transformation assessment, intelligent solution providers, universities, and research institutes attended the conference. Participating representatives visited the SupCon Technology Co., Ltd. Science and Technology Innovation Center in two batches. (China Iron and Steel Association)