BT has announced that it is working with the Worcestershire 5G Testbed (W5G) as its lead technology partner to accelerate its vision of smart manufacturing delivered through the UK’s first live 5G factory installation.
Building on its role in the development of the W5G Testbed over the last two years, BT is providing its expertise across 5G Private Networks, wearable devices, IoT, data analytics and mobile edge computing. According to BT, the combination of these technologies will make “intelligent, dynamic and fully automated manufacturing processes a reality”.
Furthermore, BT said it will enable W5G to accelerate through the next phase of its development, moving it to a sustainable, scalable footing by expanding its scope to include new industry 4.0 enabled use cases. These include enabling local engineering company Worcester Bosch, and others, to boost productivity by using autonomous robots to transport products and materials, for example. The installation of collision detection sensors connected over the 5G Private Network also aims to help ensure health and safety on the factory floor.
Gerry McQuade, CEO of BT’s Enterprise business, said: “Working with W5G and Worcester Bosch, we’re creating a smart factory where machines can learn and adapt to changes on the factory floor as they happen, and make instant, autonomous decisions to optimise the production line.
“This is only possible by harnessing 5G Private Networks, IoT, data analytics and mobile edge computing. BT’s role is in making these technologies work in perfect harmony to gather and interpret the vast volumes of data generated by connected machines and turning this into real-time and actionable insight.
“The digital transformation of manufacturing processes will be critical in rebooting the sector and driving regional regeneration across the UK. We’re really excited to be at the forefront of making this a reality.”
The UK’s first 5G factory installation has been switched on at the Worcestershire 5G Testbed, with Worcester Bosch working with BT and W5G to explore ways of boosting productivity through robotics, IoT, big data analytics and augmented reality. These technologies are running over the live Private 5G Network and edge computing infrastructure, which is now being fully managed by BT.
The testbed’s initial 5G Private Network installation has so far yielded positive results – increasing factory output by as much as 2%.
BT said that the insight gleaned from the Worcestershire 5G Testbed will be used to stimulate innovation across the manufacturing sector in the region. It will also use this insight to understand how to optimise private networking, IoT, data analytics and edge computing for the fourth industrial revolution.
As well as managing the 5G Private Network, which uses Ericsson equipment, BT will also provide access to its innovation capabilities at the EE Mobile Labs in Borehamwood. The EE Mobile Labs team, working with Ericsson, will provide the resource and capability to support the W5G Testbed. Its primary scope will include support for the 5G private Core and Radio Access Network (RAN) from Ericsson, Wide Area Network (WAN) and the Multi Access Edge Computing (MEC) environment.
