The world has a dream today to make a highly complex environment a reality. One of the most ambitious visions of a highly automated environment is a modern factory. Everything in a modern factory including advanced machines, robots are equipped with an array of sensors connected to high-powered analytics engines in the cloud that assess performance, manage production schedules, maintain supplies and orchestrate all the activities on the factory floor. 

Currently, the factories are slowly moving towards this change. But one thing that still staggers them is the wired connectivity. By eliminating wired connectivity, modern factories have the capability to acquire a greater degree of flexibility. As a change, 5G network should make its existence to supplement a high-speed manufacturing environment. With the help of 5G, the featured factories will stand above all the other working systems obtaining the capacity to maintain connection among far more sensors than either wired or previous wireless facilities. It also offers the potential to connect just above anything. 

According to a report, 5G technologies are expected to contribute the US $2.2 trillion to the global economy between 2024 and 2034. Considering this, manufacturing is poised to be the biggest enterprise adopter of 5G technology. 5G emergence will change the face of factories working system with its embedment to the already existing advanced technology. 

Some ways in which 5G will power the future smart factories

Internet of Things (IoT) at factories:

A study conducted by IDC suggest that steady commercial and consumer adoption on the Internet of Things (IoT) will drive the worldwide spending to the US $1.1 trillion in 2032. Remarkably, the manufacturing sectors spending on IoT is far more than any other industry. By connecting IoT to 5G network to speed up the process at manufacturing ground, it will bring more sensors, devices, assets through a single network giving better visibility into the supply chain. The connected devices could help improve predictive maintenance and operational efficiency on the factory floor as well as prevent theft and quality issues within logistic channels. 

Small and cheap robots for use:

By kick-starting the use of 5G in robotics, the high-speed and large bandwidth of 5G will bring the creation of smaller and cheaper robots to the manufacturing sector. The factories will see more improvement with the minimized cost and space because of the new robots. In a car manufacturing house when human workers are performing tasks outside the car, auto manufacturing is already using co-bots or collaborative robots, to complete dangerous tasks underneath the car. In the near future, the factory floor will experience a variety of small robots to perform such critical tasks.

Augmented reality and virtual reality with employees support:

Today, manufacturing companies using augmented and virtual reality is very less. The reason behind this is the large bandwidth the system takes to run. The process also involves employees to physically be connected with the network to use the technology. With the help of high-speed 5G network, factories will be able to use the technology for activities like training, machine maintenance, data visualization and designing. 

5G usage in factories post-pandemic

The outbreak of Covid-19 has made technology move faster than usual. With the changes given, the post-pandemic era with 5G technology will only highlight the value to be gained through greater automation and smarter, more resilient supply chain. The factory-floor with more advanced technologies will be a normalised state post-pandemic. 

The increasing use of 5G in the urge to manufacture more during the Covid-19 situation has ushered in many more options for a business that want to automate their operations, boost productivity and increase agility. This will further flourish in the post-pandemic era with the same king of improvement if technological sector plans to work at the same pace.