March 15, 2024
Fiona Tracey Learn about the role 5G will play in accelerating efficiency in manufacturing plants.
With more than half of the world’s energy consumed in the industrial sector, there is an urgent need to increase factory efficiency. To do this, they need real-time access to data so they can communicate faster, more reliably, and more securely on the factory floor. Data is now the most valuable resource in manufacturing.
Reliable, real-time data and easily reconfigurable systems allow manufacturers to quickly make decisions such as scheduling maintenance, adjusting machine settings, and switching from one product to another. .
The high capacity and low latency of 5G will make this possible, while also allowing manufacturers to add cutting-edge technologies such as autonomous robots and IoT devices to their operations.
However, for these machines to operate safely and reliably, they must be able to safely sense, measure, and interpret the real world. This requires converting analog data such as pressure measurements and vibrations into digital data to enable more signal processing.
The highest quality data is found at the intelligent edge. Let’s take the Gigafactory as an example. When it comes to battery manufacturing, robots need to apply uniform coatings that require high precision. This accuracy can be ensured with data from the intelligent edge. With 5G, these insights can be leveraged at the edge to make better decisions, increasing overall efficiency.
Accelerate efficiency
5G not only makes human-machine collaboration safer but also accelerates efficiency. When humans and robots work together, manufacturing processes become faster, more efficient, and more cost-effective. Increased automation and robots taking over repetitive and dangerous tasks are allowing manufacturers to augment human labor and ensure production continuity. The reliability and speed of 5G means machine-to-machine communication, which will increasingly greatly improve human-machine interaction and reduce the risk of accidents.
Removing the need for wired connectivity with 5G also increases the flexibility of manufacturing environments, enhancing process automation, remote monitoring, maintenance and device lifecycle management.
For example, consider a factory where physical connectors are eliminated and command instructions are sent wirelessly between robotic subsystems, increasing production speed while reducing costs. 5G wireless networks make all of this possible. Because 5G wireless networks maximize communication, reduce the chance of errors (or accidents), and importantly, keep the technology safe from hackers and malicious entities.
The benefits of 5G on the factory floor are clear, but like any technology that promises to disrupt the status quo, it will take time, resources, and a concerted effort to ensure every factory can benefit. Efforts are required.
Moving from a wired network to a wireless network is a complex upgrade. Each industrial customer has a unique set of circumstances, from cultural dynamics to financial circumstances or a desire for innovation that impacts an organization’s ability to make a significant upgrade to wireless.
That said, the number of digital factories is expected to increase rapidly in the coming years as traditional manufacturing facilities reach the end of their lifecycle. Once 5G is fully realized, we will live in a world that has the potential to dramatically improve everyone’s lives.
Fiona Treacy is Managing Director of Industrial Automation at Analog Devices.
