Technology has been changing the industrial sector since it first came about. In fact, it’s impossible to think about the industrial revolution in an historical context without relating it to the advancement of inventing and applying machinery in various manufacturing processes. Ever since, technology has progressively gained ground, drastically reducing the number of accidents, improving how production lines work, reducing the number of workers required and exponentially increasing the quality of all the different products being made.

This almost Copernican transformation of industry continues to make progress today. With the emergence of new connectivity options, such as 5G, developing robotics, as well as the implementation of IoT – the Internet of Things –, the number of opportunities available to Industry 4.0 today are still practically inexhaustible. The intervention of public bodies with investment in infrastructure, active participation from various stakeholders and operators from the private sector, alongside gradual changes in behavioural patterns in factories can definitively transform the future of industry.

Benefits of the 5G network for Industry 4.0

Although the automation of lots of manufacturing processes has greatly facilitated the development of various industries, there remains significant room for improvement. Issues that have prevailed until now including latency and low data transfer speeds will disappear with the roll out of 5G wireless technology, which will, in turn, lead to significant resource optimisation and far-reaching improvements in automated processes.

Alliances with robotics. A number of developments in robotics, combined with maximum use of 5G technology bandwidth, will mean it’s possible to increase the diversity, power and scope of automated machines. What’s more, exclusive network resources could be dedicated to this type of robotic line, rather than sharing them ‘horizontally’ with available network resources, as has always been the case up to now.

Net Slicing and remote assistance. The ability of 5G to ‘subdivide’ the network into smaller ‘micro grids’ means it’s possible to adapt connectivity in an ad hoc way to changing situations, demand and context, without ever compromising or losing consistency between various connections. On the other hand, lower latency and higher bandwidth means virtual reality and/or augmented reality environments could be used to proceed with remote supervision and management of smart production lines, without the need for the physical presence of any operators whatsoever.

Accuracy and removing errors. Thanks to the implementation of the IoT and automating different phases of various assembly lines and industrial processes, it will be possible to undertake just about any task – no matter how precise, complex or compromised it might be – and reduce failures to practically zero.

Other industry allies that will improve with 5G

It’s not just in production centres where connectivity and 5G can change the rules of the game. Significant changes will also come about in other parts of the industrial value chain. Use of autonomous cars for supplying, stocking and transporting products, automated stock management, as well as involvement in transporting fleets of autonomous – or hyper connected, at the very least – vehicles, could change the face of many aspects of Industry 4.0.

On the other hand, using 5G to interact with unmanned spacecraft or drones could also overhaul how products are distributed to end users in the medium term, and represent a potential major boost to the ‘last mile’ market while developing local trade and consolidating smaller, local industries.