CIOs in the manufacturing sector understand the value of digital transformation to be delivered by 5G, Industry 4.0 and IoT. It holds the promise to reduce the cost of operations, minimize downtime, improve equipment maintenance, synchronize inventory management, and more efficiently streamline processes.
However, before the promise of Industry 4.0 can be realized, enterprises will need to manage these four key challenges.
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1. Industry 4.0 connectivity
Communications, a key component of Industry 4.0, provide powerful and pervasive connectivity between people, equipment, and devices. Whether on a production line or in an automated warehouse, operations must run smoothly and flawlessly for every component at every station. Dependable, reliable, and available connectivity are non-negotiable, and critical in handling the proliferation of mobile and connected devices required in IoT environments such as manufacturing and supply chain operations.
Wireless solutions such as cellular, Low-Powered WANs, and Wi-Fi will increase in importance for IoT applications. While 4G/LTE options are currently available, companies must prepare to transition to 5G as it can enable many new capabilities delivered through Industry 4.0 applications such as more flexibility in production, support for advanced mobile applications for workers, and collaboration for mobile robots and autonomous devices and vehicles in a warehouse or production floor. In addition to powering enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), 5G promises to be essential in supporting massive machine-type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC).
2. Industry 4.0 safety
For industrial enterprises, maintaining a safe workplace is paramount due to the risk of injury to personnel and potential environmental concerns. Minimizing these risks to acceptable levels is mandatory. IoT devices could assist by monitoring metrics in real time and alerting personnel to critical thresholds before an incident occurs.
Imagine vibration sensors strategically placed on fuel pumps at an energy processing plant that could trigger an alert should vibrations from a faulty valve exceed pre-determined levels. Monitoring and acting on this information could help mitigate a catastrophic event such as a fire or explosion caused by a fuel pump leak.
Connecting sensors to a 5G network within an industrial automation site to track the health of critical equipment is one future option for maintaining optimal safety levels. Enterprises will need to review current IoT architectures and develop a clear safety policy that aligns with their industrial applications running on 5G.
3. Industry 4.0 security
Since industrial automation has traditionally relied on wired communication to transmit information, security threats have been minimal. However, with the shift to wireless connectivity needed for Industry 4.0, the potential risk from both localized and external attacks significantly increases. As more IoT devices connect across wireless networks, they will increasingly become security targets.
This doesn’t imply that the movement to connected wireless automation should be avoided. But it does mean that enterprises must account for, and manage against, new types of threats and attacks against their infrastructure. Device authentication, data confidentiality, and data integrity will be crucial for industrial communication systems and in IoT environments where data checks will be required to prevent machine failures. In these situations, enterprises will need to enhance security architectures to support the needs of connected industrial applications.
5G can offer increased secure support for IoT development. 5G can deliver mutual authentication and data encryption between devices and the network. 5G can also support a flexible authentication framework with the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) and strong encryption, while following strict latency requirements.
4. Industry 4.0 efficiency
Companies are addressing this through edge computing where software-based solutions supported by local data center services can more quickly respond to changing conditions and apply them to industrial applications. The 5G era promises to deliver faster speeds and lower latency to support the edge computing applications deployed in connected industrial environments.
Developing a Game Plan
Success in Industry 4.0 requires both an acknowledgment of these challenges and a well-structured “game plan” to address them. A number of factors should be included in that game plan, including:
- An understanding of the potential IoT value chain
- Identification of the gaps that need to be filled
- Prioritization of the business case that clearly outlines targets and goals such as cost reduction
- Assessment of plant and facility maturity in terms of equipment
- A detailed ROI review – particularly with respect to plant-level investments (sensors, connectivity, edge devices) vs. broad-based IoT architecture (platform, cloud, application layers)
- An analysis of the cost of inaction if future IoT efforts are delayed or not pursued
- Assessment of the vendor ecosystems including network providers
The right 5G provider with IoT expertise can assist in the development of a strategic approach to technology challenges posed by Industry 4.0 as new processes and compatible devices become available.
Dive deeper into the discussion of 5G, IoT, and Industry 4.0 technologies and capabilities at 5G HQ.
5G: Capable device req'd; coverage not available in some areas. Some uses may require certain plan or feature; see T-Mobile.com.
