Telia, Ericsson accelerate 5G driven smart manufacturing

Smart cities and smart transportation have been on our minds for years now. Smart and connected factories are now emerging. In Tallinn, Estonia, Ericsson is now taking into production a 5G ready Telia network which connects sensors, automated vehicles and pro-active troubleshooting.

The cellular network has the capacity to run massive real-time data collection, analytics and intelligent automation simultaneously on the factory floor.

The supply site in Tallinn is one of Ericsson’s largest manufacturing units and includes R&D activities and volume production. It has a total area of 23,000 square meters and employs more than 2,000 people.

In this site the cellular network for IoT (Internet of Things) delivers the capacity, the customization and control needed to scale and secure a connected factory and improving manufacturing operations.

It is manifested in three use cases which now will be put in full production.
1.Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) delivers product components from warehouse to the production lines. The vehicles can now communicate with the control system, provide a live stream of data and video as well as use the dedicated network to open doors. Transporting components is a labor-intensive, costly and repetitive task where AGVs save time, reduce risk for damaged components, and cut waste.
2.Augmented Reality (AR) troubleshooting provides an interactive way for quality control and testing of electronics components. Field tests have shown a 50 percent reduction in time spent on troubleshooting circuit boards when using AR.
3.Using mobile sensors that measure the level of moisture, temperature, noise, light, and CO2 makes it possible to monitore the environment. The dedicated cellular network has the capacity to handle thousands of sensors in a factory, allowing them to be moved around as the layout of the factory evolves.

“The Ericsson factory becomes the first in Estonia to implement these innovative solutions using private networks for cellular IoT. Companies have a need to connect everything in their production environment, including sensors, tools, robots, vehicles and the goods they handle or produce. As the demand to connect more things increases, the need for high-quality networks grows with it. 4G and 5G mobile communications is the best option for secure, reliable connectivity with high throughput and low latency. Our cooperation with Ericsson shows our joint capacity to create these network solutions for the future”, said Robert Pajos, CEO at Telia Estonia.