Last year, a major U.S. automaker announced that it was converting one of its factories to an all-electric vehicle plant. The emerging commitment of American carmakers towards more sustainable transit is certainly groundbreaking, yet the significance of the news was not solely about the types of cars the company would produce, but also how exactly it would build them. The factory is the first U.S. auto plant to integrate 5G, the next-generation of wireless network technology. Automotive plants rely on a complex set of connected devices, including robots, sensors and more, and supporting them with 5G wireless infrastructure has profound advantages. 5G will enable the company to manage thousands of devices across the massive plant floor and leverage critical data insights securely; it will also be used to support apps for wearable and handheld devices geared towards quality control and worker safety.
The auto giant isn’t alone in its investment in advanced wireless. All over the country, manufacturers—from medical device makers to steel producers—are beginning to consider the transition to 5G. Designed to deliver faster speeds and highly reliable connectivity, the network offers the promise of factories that could be safer, more efficient and more sustainable than ever.
“5G provides massive wireless connectivity,” said Dr. Xiaoxia Zhang, a senior director at Qualcomm Technologies, a company leading the development and expansion of 5G globally. “It can accelerate the shift to Industry 4.0, the next generation of manufacturing, with the industrial Internet of Things for connectivity and analytics.”
Building the factory of the future
Since the turn of the 21st century, American manufacturing has had its struggles. Today, the sector employs some 12 million people—down from more than 17 million in 2000. Structural issues in the industry were magnified during the pandemic, as makers struggled to keep factories safe and manage supply chain disruptions.
Yet despite these challenges, American manufacturing may be poised for transformative efficiency gains, thanks in part to the emergence of 5G. A recent . A recent economic study commissioned by Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. estimates that 5G in manufacturing in the U.S. could generate “a direct GDP impact of up to $159.2 billion and as many as 1.2 million jobs.”
This seismic impact is the result of 5G’s breadth of features; the network offers faster download speeds, more seamless data sharing and expanded network capacity than previous generations. For factories, this means a technological and physical makeover. For one, plants can be wireless, allowing connected devices to be moved and manipulated more easily. 5G also supports an expansion of autonomous and semi-autonomous machines, sensors embedded into physical infrastructure and objects, streamlined data-processing and even mixed reality applications on the factory floor.
Qualcomm 5G breakthrough technologies are vital to realizing this industry shift. The company has long been a leader in inventing and delivering innovations that advance wireless connectivity; today, Qualcomm is again at the forefront of this effort, producing technologies that form the very foundation of 5G. What’s more, says Zhang, Qualcomm innovations are helping factories navigate particular challenges that come with 5G integration. In the past, manufacturers may have hesitated to go wireless for key operations due to concerns about the reliability and security of alternate wireless technologies such as WiFi. With the support of Qualcomm 5G breakthrough technologies, however, these makers can create secure private 5G networks that can be tailored to industrial applications.
“We’re helping factories take advantage of more radio spectrum for private networks within their premises so they can employ even more services and more advanced features on the 5G network going forward,” Zhang said.
The significance of smart manufacturing
The value of these 5G-enabled services and features in manufacturing is substantial. Productivity, for one, will increase. Automation can help streamline the production process and free-up employees to be more efficient. In a factory in Texas, for example, the owners estimate that output per employee is 2.2 times higher thanks to 5G-related improvements. 5G also makes it possible for sensors inside equipment to continuously monitor conditions; the data can be analyzed to predict breakdowns, so maintenance can be done proactively, instead of in response to a problem. Overall, 5G-enabled factories will experience 20 percent to 30 percent productivity gains, according to the report commissioned by Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
5G-equipped factories can also be a boon for safety. Automation could free up workers from the most dangerous tasks while data processing powered by machine learning could be used to evaluate risks in real time. Wearables may also be leveraged on the factory floor to avoid hazards, notes Qualcomm Technologies’s Zhang. “With wireless sensing and positioning, we can identify a worker’s location and quickly alert them through a wearable device if he or she is close to a danger zone,” she said.
Additionally, these smart applications could be used by manufacturers to steer their processes towards greater customization. Automation and machine learning will allow for more product variation while wireless machines enable more seamless changes to the physical organization of a plant. What’s more, these same innovations could help manufacturers be less wasteful and more responsive to supply chain issues.
“The application of 5G technologies can accelerate the transition to Industry 4.0 and reinvigorate U.S. manufacturing,” said Zhang. In short, the scope of the benefits of 5G integration are manifold. Supported by Qualcomm’s pioneering efforts, the advanced network is set to fundamentally alter how things are made in America—for the better.
Qualcomm 5G technology is licensed by Qualcomm Incorporated. Qualcomm 5G products are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
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July 20, 2021 at 04:30AM
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Inside the smart factory revolution - The Washington Post
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