The reality of 5G in manufacturing takes another step forward, as exciting developments were announced surrounding the 5G-ENCODE Smart factory this month. They have launched their second phase of the private 5G network and began cementing the use cases for 5G in manufacturing.

The 5G-ENCODE Project, is a £9 million collaborative project aiming to develop clear business cases and value propositions for 5G applications in manufacturing industry. The project is partially funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport of the UK Government as part of their 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme. The project is one of the UK Government’s biggest investment in 5G for manufacturing to date.

Zeetta is the project leader of the 5G-ENCODE Project and its main technology provider and system integrator. Other partners on the project include Toshiba for information technology and communications equipment, Telefonica to assist in network design and evaluate technology vendors, Siemen’s to provide their PLM software tools to and Druid Software to provide private cellular network technology. See the complete list of partners here.

 

The 5G-ENCODE project is addressing the expressed requirements of the manufacturing industry:

  1. Lack of demonstrable cost-efficiency and return on investment.
  2. Concerns around compatibility and interoperability of mobile networks with existing industrial systems.
  3. Need for security – control over the security of connectivity and data, as well as the connectivity itself, to assess the quality of service, especially to external stakeholders without expertise in their sector.
  4. Current lack of understanding of how 5G differs from other connectivity solutions
  5. Current cultural barriers to working digital and IT tech sectors.

 

“5G has the potential to be truly transformational within the manufacturing industry. Machine to machine connectivity, ultra-low latency and unique network slicing capabilities will transform traditional manufacturing processes, making them more efficient and productive”

– Vassilis Seferidis, Founder and CEO at Zeetta Networks

 

For a more comprehensive update on the progress of the 5G-ENCODE Project by Vassilis Seferidis, Founder and CEO at Zeetta Networks, see Zeetta Network’s full January update here

To learn more about the 5G-ENCODE Smart factory visit https://www.5g-encode.com/about