Lotte Chilsung Beverage CEO Park Yun-gi (from left), production technology team professional Jo Min-gyu, technology innovation team professional Oh Dong-geun and strategic planning division head Lee Woo-geun pose for a photo at the 2026 AI Competition awards ceremony on Thursday. [Lotte Chilsung Beverage]
Lotte Chilsung Beverage CEO Park Yun-gi (from left), production technology team professional Jo Min-gyu, technology innovation team professional Oh Dong-geun and strategic planning division head Lee Woo-geun pose for a photo at the 2026 AI Competition awards ceremony on Thursday. [Lotte Chilsung Beverage]

Lotte Chilsung Beverage held the awards ceremony for its 2026 AI Competition at LOTTE EBC on Thursday.

The competition ran from July through September and drew 336 employees, who submitted a total of 198 AI use cases.

Judging was based on improvements to work efficiency, AI utilization and job relevance. The AX Project team, which drives AI-based workplace innovation, used a proprietary "competition judging AI" for the document review stage. The system examined the core content of each submission against the evaluation criteria and compared roughly 200 entries on a consistent standard.

A total of 14 teams received awards — one grand prize, three excellence prizes, five merit prizes and five idea prizes. The grand prize went to Oh Dong-geun of the technology innovation team and Jo Min-gyu of the production technology team, both members of a group called "Hoesik-ttaen Cloud Team." The pair developed an AI-powered program that automatically calculates pallet-loading patterns for new product containers.

Previously, employees had to manually draw odd- and even-layer loading patterns using CAD (computer-aided design) software, a process that took about an hour per case. The new program codifies the loading standards used on the production floor: once the required conditions are entered, it generates a loading pattern and technical drawing in about 30 seconds, cutting annual work hours by roughly 300.

"We will continue to create an environment where employees can actively use AI in their work and provide support so that it leads to real change on the job," a Lotte Chilsung Beverage official said.


siuu@heraldcorp.com