After the read, you will learn:
How 5G can improve cellular connectivity?
Why the cellular connection is the key point of the Industry 4.0 revolution?
Internet of Everything
Predictive maintenance
Remote monitoring and service
Autopilot
Operational flexibility
The new cellular network supports and improves Industry 4.0
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In recent years, few manufacturing trends have been as eye-catching as Industry 4.0. This data-driven industrial revolution is expected to make factories a safer and more efficient place, but today’s technology cannot fully realize this.
Although the currently connected factories have made significant progress, the manufacturing industry needs better cellular connections to form a better Industry 4.0 scale.
There are more than 50 billion IoT devices in the world, and the current connectors will soon be insufficient. Manufacturers have integrated many IoT technologies into their facilities, but modern connections may not be able to support larger network services. This is where the 5G Internet of Things comes in.
5G will take the Internet of Things to the next level. This upgrade is very beneficial to manufacturers. Let’s take a look at how the new network will change Industry 4.0.
Disadvantages of hard-wired cellular connections
Some people may not agree with the emergence of 5G networks. After all, the United States needs eight times as much infrastructure to support these new connections, which is a huge inconvenience. Since hard-wired connections have provided such high speed and reliability, why switch to Industry 4.0 cellular networks?
Fixed connections do have some advantages over wireless connections, but they also have disadvantages. In a factory, where people and machines are constantly moving, physical wires become an obstacle. Someone will unplug the Ethernet cable, which will endanger any mission-critical operations that rely on it.
Hard-wired connections also limit flexibility, which is a problem in many factories. If a factory needs to be adequate or adjust its operations, it will spend a lot of time and money. Since many new technologies only support wireless connections, insisting on using hard-wired connection systems will limit the device to traditional tools.
For manufacturers, physical connections are reliable, but wireless connections are necessary.
How 5G can improve cellular connection connectivity?
The advantages of Ethernet wireless connection are obvious, but why is 5G necessary? The fifth-generation cellular network mainly benefits from three aspects: speed, delay, and broadband. These three items are improvements of 5G, and they are all necessary conditions for IIoT work.
Experts predict that the speed of 5G is at least 10 times that of the current 4G LTE connection. Some people even predict that it will be 100 times faster than it is now. Such a huge growth rate can make almost any online operation possible.
Since latency is close to zero, these connections will also be more reliable when handling mission-critical workloads. However, many companies are worried about the interruption of the current network, which is due to whether to transfer corporate functions to the cloud. But after the emergence of 5G, they can no longer worry about this problem.
The cellular connection is the key point of the Industry 4.0 revolution
A large number of IoT devices require considerable broadband support, which is one of the biggest obstacles to IIoT operations at present, and the 5G-driven IoT can solve this problem to a large extent.
Internet of Everything
The broadband upgrade is a significant advantage of 5G in manufacturing. It can support more devices in the same field, and manufacturers can implement IoT devices on a large scale.
Everything is interconnected, and everything—including processes and sometimes people—is online, not physical devices. Imagine that in a factory, every machine, product, utility, and function can communicate on a network. Without the bandwidth improvements of 5G, this level of connectivity would be impossible to achieve.
In a sense, everything in the factory is already connected, because an error at one point will disrupt the entire process. The Internet of Everything will enable facilities to see and react to these errors before they occur.
Cellular connection predictive maintenance
One of the benefits of IIoT is that predictive maintenance can be performed. Before the machine fails, the sensor can be reminded or repaired internally. This approach has been partially implemented today, but 5G can implement this function on every machine in the facility.
Even a regular maintenance schedule is not always beneficial to the machine. Too many factors will affect the state of the system, even if maintenance requirements are frequent, they rarely happen as planned. Continuous monitoring and analysis is the best solution, but running these sensors on multiple devices requires a lot of bandwidth support.
On 5G networks, manufacturers can use extensive predictive maintenance without worry. Since this effectively increases the availability of the machine for a year, this will greatly increase productivity. The cost savings from this application alone can make up for the cost of 5G infrastructure.
Cellular connection remote monitoring and service
The sensors in a machine are not the only part of monitoring and maintenance. In a 5G network, workers can view monitoring data anywhere. This accessibility is not only convenient but also saves workers the time to walk to each machine to check.
Not only for remote maintenance. Data analysis is the cornerstone of many business practices today. The ability to perform remote data analysis makes data-driven processes more flexible. Companies can display real-time data to investors, share information with analysts outside the building, and so on.
They can not only view data remotely but also manipulate data remotely. 5G IoT devices can perform troubleshooting and even basic maintenance without the need for workers to be physically present. With these advantages, manufacturers can make service a more efficient process, reduce downtime, and save money.
Cellular connection autopilot
5G networks in cities can finally make self-driving cars a reality, thanks to its speed, bandwidth, and low latency. Manufacturers can take advantage of this advantage before municipalities and use more automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in their facilities. Some factories are already using AGV, but Wi-Fi cannot support too much AGV, which limits their practicality.
With the investment of 5G in manufacturing plants, it will be possible to run a complete AGV fleet. Regardless of the numbers, the lower the latency of these vehicles, the better, because any network interruption may hinder their navigation. If these devices are to work with people safely, they need a reliable network.
Although AGV has efficiency and safety advantages, the adoption rate of AGV is not high in the manufacturing industry. As of 2018, the number of AGVs deployed in non-manufacturing environments is more than 12 times that of manufacturers. The emergence of 5G networks may make these technologies feasible in more facilities.
Cellular connection operational flexibility
Flexibility is increasingly important to manufacturers, but the industry has historically lacked flexibility. Today’s market expects on-demand, personalized services, and products, which requires manufacturers to quickly adapt to changes. Since cellular connectivity can achieve further automation, it brings greater flexibility due to higher efficiency.
Automation is decades earlier than 5G, 5G makes it more reliable and efficient. Its advantages in maintenance, communication, and accessibility enable manufacturers to use more robots more effectively. As a result, facilities can move toward a more on-demand model, reducing internal inventory and achieving flexibility.
In the absence of inventory, facilities can adjust operations without too much interference, which is vital in today’s digital world. Since 5G also allows manufacturers to run all machines on a wireless network, they can release updates faster. Today, automated machines are notoriously inflexible, but the connectivity advantages of 5G may change this situation.
The new cellular connection network supports and improves Industry 4.0
Despite the lack of 5G networks, the transition to Industry 4.0 has already begun. However, without these new cellular connections, manufacturers will not be able to push Industry 4.0 to its full potential. Today’s systems are too slow, unreliable, and limited to handle the scale of IoT devices that manufacturers need.
5G in the manufacturing industry will help the industry surpass the Internet of Things and enter the Internet of Everything. When all devices in a facility can run on a single network and operate reliably, manufacturers will become safer, more efficient, and more profitable.
The 5G Internet of Things will help the industry become what it needs to meet the needs of the modern world.
It will take a few years for the extensive 5G network distance to become a reality. When they become a reality, they may revolutionize manufacturing.
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