Will Smart Factories Benefit from 5G? - Here's What Experts Say

Alternatives to 4G are on the horizon and could revolutionize manufacturing.

5G is on the way, the next generation of wireless technology expected to offer speeds far exceeding 4G, and has already attracted interest and investment from telcos, potentially becoming a catalyst for manufacturing transformation.

Currently, 5G is not necessarily defined as a stand-alone system; instead, transitional technologies, including LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced Pro, are being implemented to combine bandwidth across multiple frequencies and increase device speeds before fully moving to 5G infrastructure.

Deployments in the 450 MHZ- 6 GHZ and 4 GHZ – 52 GHZ frequency bands are in progress. We can expect a gradual rollout of 5G as the architecture required for 5G is built, tested, and released, and reliance on existing 4G infrastructure is stripped away.

Ericsson, Huawei, Qualcomm, Samsung, Intel and other suppliers are already working on the technology, some of which provide 5G-related hardware solutions, and have partnered with telecom companies to conduct 5G deployment tests. Countries such as the US, UK and South Korea are conducting trials, and Singapore recently asked its major operators to submit proposals for 5G spectrum packages.

The global 5G market is expected to be worth $4.2 billion by the end of 2020, according to Gartner, as companies invest in infrastructure upgrades necessary to roll out 5G.

When 4G arrived, the main use case was obvious: content streaming. As consumers began demanding more bandwidth and better speeds to facilitate online services such as YouTube, Netflix and Spotify, telcos responded.

When it comes to 5G, however, the obvious use cases are not so easy to define.

At the Qualcomm 5G Summit in Barcelona last week, Brian McComb, Verizon's vice president of device technology, told attendees that the company has invested billions of dollars, but there are no "killer" cases outside of consumer products, remote work and connected vehicles.

The application of 5G needs to reform the existing architecture and may involve the setting of software-defined network (SDN) and multi-channel edge computing, where the auction has become the battlefield of various competing manufacturers. And each country will have its own version of 5G, rather than sticking to one globally accepted standard.

While 5G lacks a major use case, manufacturing has long been cited as one area the technology could change.

Smart factories, also known as Industry 4.0, define the transformation of industrial settings from legacy systems to connected technologies. This includes the use of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, sensors, edge computing, self-healing networks and automation.

Industry 4.0 depends on connectivity. Without a stable, fast connection, industrial networks cannot capture or process ground data generated by IoT sensors or the edge, nor can this information be used for equipment monitoring or maintenance. At the same time, operators cannot see problems as they arise in real time, and SDN and automation-based architectures may not work as well.

Fiber, as a standalone connectivity option, can provide the speed, latency, reliability and capacity needed, but 5G ultimately promises to offer more solutions to the "last mile" problem and enhance mobility.

However, 5G should not be considered a replacement for fiber optic connections, as 5G infrastructure will need fiber optics to support and underpin it, especially in small area deployments and 5G radios.

EU automation chief Jonathan Wilkins said 5G could improve manufacturing in three core ways when it comes to equipment traffic.

The benefits of enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) – given 5G’s theoretical peak data rate of 10 gbps, and the 1 millisecond latency offered by ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) radios – could help prevent disruptions in industrial operations and mass mechanized communications (eMTC). 5G can theoretically support one million devices per square kilometer, and is perfect for machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and industrial IoT applications.

Wireless technology is expected not only to facilitate more IoT devices, but also to improve the automation of data collection, latency, and information flow.

"In industrial automation, 5G networks will eventually be able to replace wired connections, even in more demanding areas such as motion control and high-throughput vision systems," Wilkins said. "Organizations such as 3GPP and IEEE are still standardizing the Ethernet protocol to incorporate time-sensitive networks (TSNs) into the 5G architecture, which will allow 5G to achieve low latency and high availability."

Another major benefit of 5G for the industrial sector is flexibility. Through IoT sensor networks across factories and supply chains, operators can spot faults by collecting and analyzing data in real time, including machine performance, employee activity and logistics, and predictive analytics, rather than in a linear fashion.

: “Manufacturers are currently using Ethernet, WIFI and 4G LTE to connect factory equipment in order to provide a variety of operations from design to product distribution.” Stefan Spendrup, vice president of enterprise mobility at SOTI, told ZDNet, “However, the implementation of 5G can allow operators to seamlessly provide power to the entire facility under one network, so that Industry 4.0 innovation can be adopted more quickly.”

With 5G, industrial operators and employees will not have to rely on fixed wired communication infrastructure. This, in turn, could push smart factories beyond IoT, big data and our current experiments with M2M/ML, and towards virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications.

The transformation of Google Glass, from a failed attempt to enter the consumer space to becoming a factory floor fixture used for augmented reality data lookup and training in AR, illustrates the potential for an ROI whenever industrial companies are willing to invest in new technology, but like mobile devices, it will always require a reliable internet connection.

Wearables are one use case that could benefit from next-generation wireless technology, as can virtual reality headsets and robotics. Production lines may be sped up, warehouses may use headsets for "picking by sight" applications, and human error rates may be reduced.

"5G's features are a must for the effective use of autonomous robots, wearables and VR headsets, which are shaping the future of smart factories, and 5G is a key enabler of the Internet of Things," added Spendrup.

Supply chains could also benefit from 5G. Capgemini research estimates that some 75% of industry players are planning to implement 5G within the first two years after the technology is available, and according to Nigel Thomas, a member of Capgemini's digital manufacturing team, 5G can "enable the seamless movement of the entire supply chain".

“Given self-triggered ordering based on inventory levels, 5G’s ability to connect 10-100x more devices, better security protocols and the availability of 99.999% will make these transactions more reliable,” Thomas said. “5G will also allow for virtual testing of components and suppliers’ packaging, such as 3D x-ray imaging, to create extremely accurate digital replicas of manufactured parts, thereby remotely verifying their specifications.”

Another interesting aspect of how 5G will transform industrial operations is the "Internet of Skills," a lesser-known aspect of the smart factory.

Ericsson describes the Internet of Skills as a means to "enable anyone to teach, be taught and act remotely". It requires the efficient capture, transmission, and presentation of visual, auditory, and sensory-based information that can only be managed through high-speed mobile networks.

In the industrial arena, the Internet of Skills may benefit the training and supervision of factory workers.

"The ability to share knowledge and skills is an overlooked aspect of Industry 4.0, but it's just as important as automation or connected devices," said Rafi Billurcu, manufacturing partner at Infosys Consulting. "Workers then have access to everything from real-time observations of machinery performance to education and training resources."

Even though Industry 4.0 emerges as a use case for 5G, that doesn't mean it won't pose challenges for businesses.

The industrial sector is unlikely to achieve the full speed and connectivity promised by 5G for many years to come, as many companies will rely on legacy systems and older networks until upgrades become necessary.

The initial investment in wired connections and 3G/4G transitions can also make this transition difficult. Unless a 5G-enabled smart factory actually delivers ROI, companies may choose to bide their time before committing capital to a complete overhaul of existing infrastructure.

“To a large extent, the challenge for manufacturers is related to the effectiveness of the business case,” Thomas added. “For example, if a factory is making the same aerospace parts as it has been doing for the past 50 years, they may not choose to put sensors on the machine. But if they can build a business case to demonstrate that the ability to capture manufacturing data can improve quality, output and productivity, then they will invest.

Problems arise when the entire supply chain is taken into consideration. Manufacturers will not be able to mandate that everyone in the supply chain should invest in the technology. This could be caused by manufacturers' investments, driver adoption and usage down the supply chain. Because a lot of investment cases take time to prove, and that may only be reflected when the hockey stick starts. "

Author: Charlie Osborne

This article is from a translation, if you want to reprint, please obtain authorization from this site first.