Industrial 5G Uncovered: what you missed at our latest webinar

On March 10, Digital Catapult hosted an online event to explore the future path for industrial 5G in the UK.

Hosted by Linda Ligios, Senior Innovation Partner, Digital Catapult, this event was the final webinar in a four-part series that examined the ways in which 5G could advance digitalisation to improve productivity in the manufacturing and logistics sectors – as well as how the UK Government, technology innovators, network providers and industry can work together to drive 5G adoption and overcome early operational problems.

The webinar explored next steps for the journey towards widespread 5G adoption, with an overview of the opportunities arising from new government funding streams and the telecom supply chain diversification programme, SONIC Labs.

In his opening speech, Juergen Maier – Chair, Digital Catapult and Co-Chair, Made Smarter, provided insight on the next steps for industry, as well as the role that 5G has to play in ensuring the next wave of industrial efficiency.

Use cases, such as optimised machine use and better energy savings have been developed in near-real-life environments through testbeds and  trials, but what lessons have we learned? What joint private sector and government initiatives, like Made Smarter, are required to help the industry accelerate its journey?

Key points from the discussion included:  

• Strong players are emerging in the ecosystem – Dell, HP, and Cisco are showing interest in this market, along with hyperscalers such as Amazon or Microsoft. New players bring new ideas and cutting-edge technology, which speeds up innovation.
• For innovation to flourish, competition is necessary. While a few key players have dominated traditional cellular networks and existing 5G provisions, the move to Open RAN will open the field to smaller companies, encouraging innovation and supply chain diversity.
• In the civil engineering and construction space, 5G has the potential to reduce the volume of physical infrastructure on sites and facilitate connected or autonomous plants, along with augmented and virtual reality solutions. 
• Early adopters of 5G face challenges in obtaining compatible devices, as the technology and ecosystem are still at a low level of maturity. 
• Open RAN can extend the ecosystem to provide more innovation and scalability, with flexibility in deployment and integration with existing technical and operational systems.
• It is important for us to understand what an end-to-end solution looks like and communicate this to senior stakeholders to give them confidence that the solution is right for their business and industry as a whole. This is an important step in moving technology from proof of concept to phase two: business as usual. 

[discussion points cont.]

• One of the biggest challenges that manufacturers face is that they already have a significant amount of equipment on the factory floor, and do not plan to make significant changes in the short term. Instead they tend to repair machines to last longer.
• 5G is gaining traction in terms of  improving the workplace, worker safety and operational effectiveness using augmented reality, coupled with digital twin operations. The benefits spill over into upskilling employees, who go from executing operations to wider systems or implementation thinking.
• The manufacturing sector is diverse and the majority of businesses are SMEs. Some of them are fast, agile and innovative companies that large global leaders can learn from, but others lag behind and need to know how to overcome barriers such as access to finance, skills and knowledge. 
• More than half of manufacturers believe that digital technologies can positively impact business. Over a third understand that cost reductions, while improving raw materials and waste efficiency, can help establish a greener business model, decarbonise processes and reduce emissions.

The two-hour webinar also included details on:

• Opportunities arising from new UK Government and European funding streams.
• SONIC Labs, run by Digital Catapult with support from Ofcom, funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to accelerate the adoption of Open RAN technology. For more information about SONIC Labs, please email [email protected]
• The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF), which supports industrial sites with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future.

About the programme

Digital Catapult is the technical and innovation centre of excellence for the Industrial 5G Testbeds and Trials programme, helping to support the range of projects across the portfolio on behalf of the UK Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Digital Catapult will be exhibiting at the UK’s 5G Showcase Event, a two-day conference and exhibition in Birmingham on 22nd and 23rd March 2022, an in-person event showcasing achievements from the UK Government’s coordinated 5G programme.