This is a pretty obvious choice here. But think about where this is going. Think about how manufacturing will expand outside of China. The US and Canada need to be as efficient as possible, and Tesla showed us that robots really can build anything. We need to modernize manufacturing and be ready to update and change the machines quickly. We all thought 3D printing would be a game changer, but to connect to the machines wirelessly and update in near real time will be the difference between high output on a moment’s notice versus no output.
This is the best time to build new and modern systems that are highly automated and updatable. We can learn from the mistakes of the past.
Now that localization is becoming the new normal. We have to build plants in countries that have social responsibility.
All those socially responsible companies like Apple and Qualcomm should be trying to build new plants in countries that are friendly and responsible. While we all like cheap, these companies have to show social responsibility by bringing manufacturing back to the people who deserve it.
To keep the prices down they will have to automate as much as they can which means planning upfront.
While it’s way more than P5G as part of the solution. Hopefully, these plants will plan forward-looking and not invest in older technologies. That would be a waste of money and time.
They will rely on a wireless connection to allow changes to be made cost-effectively and quickly. Retooling will be a critical piece of moving forward.
AI and ML will make the equipment way smarter than ever before. That along with 3D printing will allow the modern manufacturer to be agile and adapt to new tool designs quickly.
I also think there will be smaller manufacturing plants that will be ready for specialty designs, thanks to 3D printing.
The future of manufacturing will include maximum automation.
Security
This is no surprise to anyone. It’s being done today with video everywhere. We have cameras in cars, along roads, in businesses, and all over the place.
With P5G in buildings and on campuses, we’ll see what’s going on and AI can make decisions 24×7 to do things that didn’t seem important before.
Open doors, break-ins, fires, water pipe breaks, and even temperature changes will all be detected long before they’re a problem.
Manufacturing Downside
OK, I’ve spoken about the dream, but it can turn into a nightmare. I wanted to make you aware that you may need partners or work towards a complete solution.
In manufacturing, there are a lot of customer specific solutions you have to create. When you look at Tesla, one of my favorite examples, they have machines specific to them and the model of car that they’re putting together at that time. It’s not something you can just pull off the shelf and modify. It has to be built specifically for that auto model to be built. Ford and GM have the same issues.
I can provide the network transformation but you need someone who understands manufacturing solutions to finalize the model.
Once you have that, then you need to be able to track a lot of things. Not just production and inventory, but maintenance. It helps to predict failures, track problems, look for inefficiencies, identify problems early.
This requires a backend solution with software and some type of learning.
Manufacturing Use Cases
I know we talked about the actual manufacturing robots up and running. Giving them versatility so that when it comes time for upgrades, changes, or modification we can do it quickly with little human intervention, at least that’s what we hope for. Just remember, software can’t solve everything we may need. Hardware changes at some point.
However, once you have the network built for that, you can start to look for verticals in the plant where you add value.
Here is a quick list:
- Broadband access, although Wi-Fi may be all you need for the employees and the visitors, you will need something on the secure and private side to allow five workers access. You also need to have all the hubs connect in some way without connecting wires or relying on Wi-Fi.
- Sensors are something that you will want all over the plant, not just on the machines but also for doors, moisture and delivery.
- Logistics tracking of customer packages and inventory.
- Tool and equipment tracking of forklifts, toolboxes, and other equipment that can get misplaced and lost.
- Video tracking of almost everything, like safety. If someone steps onto a busy path of forklifts, you will want to get those alarms in near real time or make a local horn or siren blare to alert the person who is not paying attention. You know they were probably looking at their phone instead of where they’re going, a clear safety violation.
- Maintenance solutions are going to be the key driver for most of manufacturing. It’s not always easy to monitor equipment but Amazon came up with the Monitor to monitor the vibrations and temperature of anything that has a motor or vibrates, like rollers on a conveyor system, if they start to go bad you could have problems. Also, larger motors can be monitored using these devices to look for anomalies in the vibration or temperature.
- Safety monitoring and responses are another key point to sell here. You have to put together systems to make sure the workers and visitors are safe. This can be done with video and monitoring systems that send alerts to a local alarm and record activity where the employees make a mistake or get distracted. It’s the job of this equipment to alert them using audible alarms and let the video show what really happened if there is an accident. If a disaster happens, then you need a quick response, which could be a combination of cameras and drones to quickly assess the situation. These are all solutions you can offer.
- Robot connections are key to the solution but they are very specific to that manufacturer. However, if they worked with wired systems or tried Wi-Fi they may be glad to use wireless, specifically something like CBRS that is secure and solid to connect their machines. The reason most don’t rely on wireless is because of issues with Wi-Fi and the privacy fears. They need to be sure no one can access their equipment and mess it up but they also like to maintain a connection 24/7 to monitor and make updates as required. It’s key to any manufacturing plan to keep all equipment connected all the time.
- Data offloading is another use case, but it may not be what you think. Many manufacturing plants use Wi-Fi for public employee connections to keep them on their own network and not bog down the work network. The company may want to monitor data in real time, make updates, and track packages on the secure PLTE or P5G network. This way privacy is ensured because the employees are on their own network and only critical operations are on the inside network.
Just so you know
I worked with several manufacturing plants and they will not upgrade until they have the budget to do so. Even then, it has to be a network transformation. The groups I worked with built Wi-Fi and LoRa networks that covered 75% of what they needed. They considered that good enough.
They really don’t care about PLTE or P5G, but they do care about functionality and costs. So be open to having all of the other wireless networks work alongside the 5G network if that’s your path forward.
Many manufacturers I worked with were part of a much larger group. So if this is the first time they’ve done this type of transformation, it will be an uphill battle. They don’t like change nor the unknown. It’s up to you to make them feel safe and comfortable.
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