5G for Smart Manufacturing

Today’s smart manufacturing sector is undergoing a digital transformation addressing the challenge of reducing manual processes and increasing efficiency. 5G is foreseen as key enabler for the future manufacturing ecosystem termed Industry 4.0. 5G-SMART will demonstrate, validate and evaluate the potential of 5G in real manufacturing environments.

At three different trial sites 5G-SMART will test most advanced 5G integrated manufacturing applications such as digital twins, industrial robotics and machine vision based remote operations. The trial sites are: An Ericsson factory in Kista (Sweden), a Fraunhofer IPT shopfloor in Aachen (Germany) and a Bosch semiconductor factory in Reutlingen (Germany).

5G-SMART will investigate Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), perform channel measurements and study co-existence between public and private industrial networks in real manufacturing environments easing the integration of 5G. The new 5G features, developed in 5G-SMART such as time synchronization and positioning for manufacturing use cases represent a technological leap.

Furthermore, 5G-SMART will explore new business models, including roles of mobile network operators. 5G-SMART will result in the development of future 5G standards for the manufacturing sector complemented by new 5G enabled manufacturing products and solutions.

5G-SMART open days will directly address small and medium enterprises making 5G-SMART technology accessible to them. 5G-SMART lead by Ericsson brings together a strong consortium of partners involved in every aspect of the manufacturing ecosystem.