5G: A new vision for industrial automation

The next generation of wireless connectivity, 5G, brings the concept of wireless industrial automation closer to reality. In the near future, the new network will bring more business opportunities than ever before, making the Internet of Things popular in industrial automation and manufacturing. 5G will replace wired connections even for the most demanding applications. According to research, by 2030, Industry 4.0 will account for about 22 million 5G IoT units, most of which will be manufacturing applications.

What is 5G?

5G is the fifth generation of mobile networks that began to be deployed globally in 2019. 5G is a new global mobile wireless network standard following 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G. With the development of 5G technology, a new network will virtually connect people, objects, machines, and devices. This new technology has the potential to support millions of devices at ultra-high speeds and has the potential to take industrial automation and smart manufacturing to a new level. The use of 5G technology brings opportunities for mission-critical industrial enterprise operations that affect safety and security.

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Differences between 3G/4G/5G networks

All previous generations of mobile networks have contributed to the development of 5G, which offers speeds 100 times faster than LTE, ultra-low latency, reliability, massive connectivity, and energy efficiency, all of which contribute to an improved user experience. It delivers higher performance and greater efficiency to enhance new user experiences and connect new industries. Compared to 4G, 5G can support all spectrum types, frequency bands, and a wide range of deployment modes. This opens up new avenues for interconnection, such as device-to-device and multi-hop networks. Not to mention, with speeds reaching up to 10 Gbps, 5G is much faster than all previous generations. This is 10 to 50 times faster than 4G LTE.

What 5G means for manufacturers and industrial automation

Each generation of wireless networks has a new set of uses. Manufacturing companies and industrial automation can benefit the most from 5G wireless technology and establish more efficient and flexible production processes. This new technology provides streamlined and low-cost connectivity solutions by leveraging the ability to reduce data rates, power, and mobility to connect sensors. Some use cases include autonomous systems in factories, smart cities, smart energy, connected offices and buildings, security and emergency services, and connected health.

Artificial Intelligence in Time-Critical Processes – 5G can significantly improve the efficiency and safety of real-time robotic control, motion control, human-machine interaction, in-vehicle 4K video streaming, 3D navigation, and AR/VR maintenance and training.

Connected Factory – Increase digitalization at all levels of the factory from the production floor to the management office and benefit from faster data transfer by tracking asset inventory in real time, receiving sensor data, remote inspection and diagnostics to optimize production facility management.

Logistics – Improve logistics and warehouse operations, provide faster than ever communications between field workers and back office, and track goods post-production.

Safety Systems – Bringing reliability and resilience to plant safety, allowing for real-time alarms and notifications.

5G has industrial-grade performance, including high reliability, low latency, and good coverage. With all the advantages that 5G has, it can truly revolutionize many industrial fields and build smarter factories. Therefore, manufacturing companies should consider building dedicated networks to support their efforts so that they are not dependent on telecom operators.