Digital transformation has a key ally in 5G, next-generation mobile connectivity. Together, 5G and industrial IoT will make commonplace solutions that today are applied only in very specific cases and considered pioneering. Thanks to commercial and consumer communications, some of the fields where 5G connectivity will bring major changes are already evident, for example, the worlds of healthcare and entertainment. But momentous changes are also on the horizon in industry, thanks to the Industrial IoT, or IIoT. Indeed, the application of the next-generation Internet of Things to production departments will expand the data-driven approach, and more generally the ability to collect and analyze data in a timely and effective manner, even in those fields where technological limitations do not allow it today.

A supply chain ready for 5G and IIoT

We know that today data collection and analysis are no longer a problem. The speed of connection, even in the case of decentralized systems, and the computational capacity make it possible to effectively analyze and process data in real time, supporting industry both in analysis and, for example, in maintenance management. What is lacking in many cases is the ability to also interconnect production departments, the so-called shop floor. Basically because current technology imposes a limitation: you have to choose between faster, but wired connectivity, or wireless solutions with all in all limited capacity, not so much in terms of troughput, but especially in terms of latency, which is often still quite high in wireless systems.

Thanks to 5G technology, big data and latency management will no longer be a problem. In fact, some of the standard’s specifications are designed precisely to overcome the limitations of current connectivity.

Transforming production lines

Within the 5G standard we find a number of devices designed precisely to facilitate industrial automation and, in general, the development of the smart factory. In particular, within Release 16 of the technology, there are some particularly significant pointers:

  • Utra-reliable, low latency communication (uRLLC), which as the name suggests provides for lowering latency times and improving communication reliability;
  • Massive type communication (eMTC), a type of low-bandwidth access specifically for sensors, measurements and monitoring;
  • Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), a use case of 5G specifically for transferring large amounts of data over large areas.

With these three technologies, 5G networks will allow an extremely large number of devices to be connected, with latency levels low enough to enable real-time operation. Among other implications, it is also worth considering the possibility of centralize the process capability.

Where today some machinery must process some of the data locally due to latencies and connectivity, tomorrow these operations could be centralized, allowing the development of less complex, thus cheaper, machinery and devices without their own processing capabilities.
To clarify this concept, we can simplify by imagining it as an extension of “headless terminals” in traditional computing.

5G and IIot: the benefits on the organizational level as well

While 5G connectivity will certainly enhance the adoption of increasingly efficient and smart solutions within production lines, the benefits this technology can also bring to management, control and monitoring activities that can already be used today should not be underestimated.

For example, technologies such as the Digital Twin, in which a digital model flanks a piece of machinery, a line or a plant, will become even more reliable and concrete as more and more data can be integrated into the model, of increasingly better quality and lower latency, until it becomes a tool that can also be used in real time to identify malfunctions, failures and inefficiencies.

Advanced collaboration tools such as augmented reality technical interventions will also become increasingly effective, thanks to greater mobility of operators and the possibility of increasingly consistent two-way data transmission.

Wanting to broaden the spectrum further to more general considerations, 5G coverage will, for example, guarantee broadband connections even to establishments located in decentralized locations, opening the scenario to centralized management in the case of companies with multiple locations and opening the door to integrated Cloud use.

Smart enterprises are integrated enterprises. Among the major opportunities of Industry 4.0 is the provision of digital services coupled with physical products through IoT data collection and modeling of a digital twin.

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