The rise of intelligent manufacturing, industrial 4.0, digital enterprises and future factories is bringing revolutionary changes to the industry. Unlike the first industrial revolution in the steam age, this industrial revolution combines computing power and machine technology, and uses modern information, operation and communication technology to create a better and more efficient working environment.

  According to Huffington Post, the early implementation of smart manufacturing plans has achieved good results, 82% of the users said that their operational efficiency has improved significantly, and 5G commerce will more effectively promote the development of the revolution. In addition, according to the results of Jeep's "5G Technology Trend Survey", 72% of experts predict that 5G solutions will first be used for commercial applications, and the industrial Internet of Things will be one of the strong drivers of 5G applications in the short term. With the characteristics of low latency, high bandwidth, faster network speed and super capacity, 5G wireless technology is driving the digital transformation of manufacturing industry in the fields of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, predictive maintenance and cooperative robots.

Potential Benefits of Artificial Intelligence

  The shortening of production cycle makes it difficult for manufacturers to meet the increasingly complex market demand for products while ensuring high quality production standards. Despite the rapid delivery of products, customers still expect higher quality, multi-functional products. Therefore, enterprises must reduce the defect rate of products and avoid the occurrence of product recall as far as possible. Artificial intelligence can solve these problems.

  According to a study released by Market Research Corporation, the market value of AI in 2017 is 16 billion US dollars, and it is expected to exceed 190 billion US dollars in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 36.6%. With the popularization and application of this technology, the artificial intelligence of experts will become the whole industry. Major changes have been brought about.

  In addition to predictive maintenance, AI can also be used to improve quality control in factories. Visual detection systems without AI must be trained with about 1 million image data sets to identify all potential problems; AI can not only strengthen the management of existing infrastructure and human resources, but also help operators quickly identify defects and reduce production chain failures and product failures.

  Jeep has been using artificial intelligence to capture possible errors in the early stage of PCB manufacturing process, and the accuracy of fault detection is as high as 80%, saving 17% of rework costs and 10% of energy consumption. The sooner the fault problem is discovered, the more efficient the enterprise can operate, and the shorter the production cycle, so as to improve customer satisfaction. However, in order to achieve the premise of this mode of operation, 5G must be used to obtain a large number of real-time, high-quality data to maximize efficiency.

Using Augmented Reality Technology to Solve Fault Problems

  Augmented reality technology can help technicians find faults faster. With the help of augmented reality solutions and tablet computers or holographic lenses, troubleshooters can identify faults faster and more effectively, share data with production sites instantly, and solve the problem in a shorter time.

Predictive and preventive maintenance

  Improper maintenance strategy will reduce the overall production capacity of the plant by 5% to 20%. Research shows that unexpected shutdowns cost industrial manufacturers about $50 billion a year, 42% of which are caused by asset damage, which also puts manufacturers in a dilemma. Usually, manufacturers have two choices when their assets are damaged. One is to offline the machine to ensure full operation until production stops. The other is to keep the machine running, which may lead to longer downtime due to machine failure. Therefore, the manufacturer should optimize the downtime plan to prevent unexpected downtime, so as to improve the efficiency of machine use and the productivity of employees, and ultimately enhance the profitability of enterprises.

  Traditional preventive maintenance requires a lot of manpower to operate, but this method is not only inefficient and time-consuming, manufacturers usually can not afford the loss caused by manpower maintenance. PricewaterhouseCoopers data show that almost all manufacturers hope to improve efficiency through digital technologies such as predictive maintenance. It is expected that the proportion of manufacturers using machine learning and analysis technology to improve predictive maintenance will increase by 38% in the next five years. If combined with 5G wireless technology, manufacturers will be able to use simpler and more efficient streams. Cheng carries out predictive and preventive maintenance.

Strengthen Supply Chain Management

  Visibility of product delivery routes is critical to supply chain management. However, modern tracking methods, such as two-dimensional code scanning and radio frequency identification, can only record location and time when the product arrives. If the product is damaged, it is extremely difficult to accurately identify the time point of the accident during transportation.

  Intelligent packaging has made great progress, and the next generation wireless technology can further improve the level of packaging tracking technology. By installing 5G sensors on the package, the position, temperature, humidity, gravity and humidity of the package can be grasped in all links of the supply chain, and real-time feedback of the product status and condition can be obtained without manual checkpoint.

Improve safety and efficiency through human-computer cooperation

  Robots can be produced efficiently and accurately in large quantities, and have long been used in automatic assembly, automobile and other products manufacturing. Robots can also be used to transport goods or, at a practical level, to clean up debris on factory floors. By performing trivial and repetitive tasks by automated robots, more time can be devoted to more valuable work.

  Although automated robots have been put into use in factories and retail outlets around the world, in order for robots to intelligently interact with the environment in real time, a lot of information must be transmitted instantaneously. This is a great challenge for manufacturers, who are forced to build complex machine control systems, which not only slows down the development cycle, but also hinders the development of new areas.

  Cloud robots supported by 5G will be able to solve these problems, because a large amount of system information can be stored in the cloud through 5G technology, which simplifies the operation of robots in factory workshops and improves their usability and efficiency. The key to a high-productivity robot is to have a strong and stable 5G connection. As long as the data transmission path is closer to the connection source, 5G can have faster transmission speed than wireless connection, and greatly improve the data transmission. In addition, 5G is more flexible, which enables manufacturers to adapt to changing manufacturing environments while maintaining low cost adjustments.

  5G will change the world in many ways, including faster video transmission, self driving cars and real-time remote surgery. With unprecedented transmission speed and coverage, 5G will connect the world more closely than ever before, and will also lead to major changes in many industries, including manufacturing.