How Companies Will Use 5G To Make The Factory Of The Future

 

Josh Linkner: I often get asked, "How do you describe the factory of the future?" It's a much more fluid, creative process, with technologies and humans working side by side. The way CPG manufacturers are changing their approach to packaging is a perfect example. As packages become smaller and boxes are reduced, clearly it's making a positive environmental impact.

But it's also a win for manufacturers who are able to get better positioning on e-commerce sites, who tend to favor moreefficient packaging materials. For midsize manufacturers,that is especially important. Those savings, and those advantages, are where they build momentum for growth. But developing one packaging operation for bulk shipping to retail, and another for direct-to-consumer means more equipment tomonitor and maintain.

To integrate new systems,manufacturers will tap into the speed of 5G to trackanalytics in near-real time. That means parts that need attention could essentially speakup and ask for help way before they becomemajor maintenance issues.

All that can be handled bymachine vision and IoT sensors. These new technologiesgenerate tremendous value, but they also generatetremendous amounts of data. A latency factor, where there's a delay in data going out and data coming back in, can actually create anegative opportunity. It's possible to avoid that altogether by processing data with near immediacy at the edge of your network. The outcome of that isedge-to-edge intelligence, which ultimately drivesperformance and better outcomes.

 For manufacturers of the future, growth can mean different things. You're starting to see co-bots, where that's humans androbots working side by side. We're seeing drones appliedto the factory floor. We're even seeing something fascinating called the self-assembly process, in which manufacturingitems are, to a degree, building upon themselves. But as we look forward,it's still the magic and the precision ofall these moving parts, data included, working together seamlessly to keep the manufacturingindustry running.