People's Daily: 5G+Industrial Internet releases multiplier effect

5G is an important direction for the upgrade of the new generation of information and communication technology, and the industrial Internet is a development trend for the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry. When the rising star of technology meets the manufacturing trend, it will undoubtedly become an important driving force for the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry.

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "5G+Industrial Internet" 512 Project Promotion Plan (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), proposing to build 5 industrial public service platforms by 2022, select 10 key industries, and form at least 20 typical industrial application scenarios, so as to cultivate an innovative trend of 5G and industrial Internet integration, mutual promotion and mutual development.

Why build a special industrial public service platform? Which industries will "5G+Industrial Internet" focus on? How to integrate and apply it in corporate production and manufacturing? The reporter interviewed relevant industry insiders.

The service platform provides technical standard verification, core equipment testing, etc.

By 2022, we will build five 5G networking transformation and promotion service platforms within industrial Internet enterprises. What key issues does the platform aim to solve in the integration of 5G and industrial Internet?

The relevant person in charge of the Information and Communications Administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology explained that there are still problems such as imperfect integration standards, key technologies that need to be broken through, and supporting industries that are not mature enough. The industrial public service platform will provide public services such as "5G+Industrial Internet" technical standard verification, core equipment testing, application service innovation, and consulting training based on the characteristics of the industry, and provide basic support and model guidance such as testing environment and deployment for integrated applications.

Such a public service platform is already under construction. Five consortiums have won the bid for the "Industrial Internet Enterprise 5G Network Transformation and Promotion Service Platform" project established this year, each of which includes industrial enterprises and basic telecommunications companies.

What services can the industrial public service platform provide for enterprises? At present, network support may become a major benefit - the winning bidder will provide enterprises with 5G network coverage of a certain base station scale, and realize the deployment of no less than 5 types of 5G network converged applications. The network test environment built on this basis supports the incubation and verification of no less than 10 5G network converged application solutions, thereby meeting the R&D and testing needs of industrial enterprises. At the same time, it will also provide consulting and training services for no less than 5 small and medium-sized enterprises.

At present, the industrial foundation is being continuously consolidated. Liu Duo, president of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, introduced that in terms of 5G standard formulation, as of May this year, the number of patents declared by Chinese companies accounted for more than 30% of the global total, ranking first in the world. In terms of network construction, it is expected that 130,000 5G base stations will be put into operation by the end of the year. At the same time, manufacturing companies actively use new network technologies to transform factory intranets, basic telecommunications companies accelerate the construction of high-quality external benchmark networks, and the number of platforms with certain industry and regional influence exceeds 50, and the average number of industrial equipment connections on key platforms exceeds 650,000.

Select advantageous industries and characteristic industries to build integrated application pilot zones

According to the plan, 10 key industries will be selected to guide local governments to select industrial clusters with high industrial concentration, good digital foundation, strong willingness for network transformation, and strong industrial traction, so as to create pilot areas for integrated applications for different industries. Which industries will be prioritized? What impact will it have on these industries?

"The organic combination of 5G and the industrial Internet can further realize the comprehensive connection between people, machines, and things, and promote efficient collaboration among various production factors, thereby providing more solid support for the digitalization, networking, and intelligent upgrading of traditional industries, and releasing the multiplier effect for improving quality and efficiency." A relevant person in charge of the Information and Communications Administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.

Taking the mining industry as an example, safety and efficiency are the top priorities for mining. At the Ordos Baoli Coal Mine in Inner Mongolia, the intelligent machine group sends operating instructions to the unmanned excavator through the 5G network, and the excavator can use a variety of sensors to feedback environmental perception information to the machine group, thereby effectively improving the efficiency of mine operations and the level of safety management. In the power industry, 5G will also help realize intelligent distributed power distribution automation.

How can the future "5G+Industrial Internet" industrial parks form their own characteristics according to local conditions and avoid "rushing in"? "We encourage localities to select advantageous industries and characteristic industries to build pilot zones for integrated applications." A relevant person in charge of the Information and Communications Administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that the next step will be to form industry agglomeration effects and regional scale effects through the approach of "looking at applications for emerging technologies, verifying application effects, and exploring more business models."

According to the survey conducted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, my country has formed a "two regions, three belts and multiple points" 5G industrial Internet intranet transformation distribution pattern, led by the Yangtze River Delta region and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and actively promoted by the Shandong-Henan area, the Sichuan-Chongqing area, and the Hunan-Hubei area. Taking the Yangtze River Delta region as an example, "5G+Industrial Internet" is mainly used in aircraft, automobiles, heavy machinery, rail transportation and other industries.

Application scenarios extend from peripheral production links to internal links

At present, basic telecommunications companies and large industrial enterprises have joined forces to accelerate their layout in many industries. According to the plan, by 2022, 20 typical application scenarios of "5G+Industrial Internet" will be explored.

"5G's low latency, large bandwidth, and wide coverage have been applied in the transformation of the industrial Internet intranet." A relevant person in charge of the Information and Communications Administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that it is currently widely used in factory remote video maintenance, machine vision monitoring and other scenarios. Hangzhou Steam Turbine and Zhejiang Mobile have jointly developed a 5G 3D scanning modeling and detection system, which uses laser scanning to accurately and quickly obtain product data and generate 3D models, so that the core components of industrial steam turbines can be improved from random inspection to full inspection, and the inspection time is expected to be reduced from 2-3 days to 3-5 minutes.

In the future, typical industrial application scenarios of 5G will extend from peripheral production video surveillance, patrol security, logistics distribution, etc. to product design simulation, production control, quality inspection, safe production and other links, providing services for all factors and the entire value chain.

How to promote the extension from the peripheral links of production to the internal links? The person in charge proposed that the next step will be to promote the deep integration of 5G and the industrial Internet from three aspects:

Strengthen key technology research and solve the "usability" problem. Research and formulate the "5G + Industrial Internet" integration standard system, integration technology, and application standards as soon as possible to accelerate the development and industrialization of integrated products.

Provide a service support platform to solve the problem of "dare to use". Extract typical application scenarios that can be replicated and promoted, and enhance the innovative application capabilities of "5G+Industrial Internet".

Promote the docking of supply and demand cooperation and solve the problem of "easy to use". By cultivating solution providers and selecting high-quality service providers to build a supply resource pool, while relying on industrial organizations to promote cooperation between supply and demand, gradually cultivate the "5G+Industrial Internet" characteristic industry.