5G to unleash a digital revolution that will power Industry 4.0

The number of digitally-enabled products jumped ahead by seven years during the pandemic, and the number of connected things around the world is set to reach 42 billion by 2025, eclipsing the 5.7 billion people predicted to use mobile devices for the same period. The digital revolution across several industries, from manufacturing, to logistics, health care and automotive, is on the horizon and will be fueled by new mobile technologies. Faster, better and universal connectivity is key – to both operational excellence and a better experience for customers.

Private 5G networks and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) signal a new era in connectivity. They allow businesses access to high bandwidth, ultra-low latency and high reliability. This makes high speed operations like smart manufacturing, next generation logistics and self-driving vehicles possible.

Being able to process real-time data quickly and securely will lead to massive improvements in production by transforming processes, supply chains and delivery. The right telecommunications partner will guide enterprises in optimizing their business to stay competitive and reduce costs with the right mobile solution.

Will 5G and IoT connectivity end costly recall in the automotive sector?
Next-generation mobile technologies will play a crucial role in how the automotive industry evolves. It will mean manufacturers can better manage complex supply chains by embedding data into the systems used for buying and delivery decisions. Robotic manufacturing will be taken to a new level by pulling together data across multiple production sites to crowd-source machine learning.

The benefits extend well beyond the production floor. Today, the fall-out from auto recalls causes manufacturers significant reputational damage and cost. On average, a recall costs $500 per vehicle, often involving millions of vehicles.

Embedding IoT connectivity within vehicles will usher in a new age of driver safety and could make costly auto recalls a thing of the past. Thanks to SIM technology, manufacturers can keep constant track of vehicle performance and feed this data into its 5G-enabled private network. By looking at data across all vehicles, manufacturers can identify issues much quicker, notify drivers and correct the defect before more vehicles are produced and sold.

The blurring of industries – enterprises becoming mobile operators
Building the level of advanced connectivity to realize Industry 4.0 is complex. It requires not just the radio spectrum and hardware, but essentially turns enterprises into mini-mobile operators.

A global automotive brand, for example, will need to connect all its private networks across its different manufacturing sites to leverage the value of all that data. Any person, vehicle or device that travels outside of the private network will need to move across public networks to stay connected. If enterprises go it alone, they will need to go through a very lengthy and cumbersome process of setting up individual roaming agreements with each public operator. This will take years to develop and delay the return on investment in deploying these technologies.

"While the business benefits of 5G and Industrial IoT are clear, many companies simply don't know where to start. To unleash the true transformative power of these technologies, companies need access to an entire telecommunications ecosystem," comments Matteo Gatta, BICS CEO. "However, this is not their core business and they need a partner to guide them along the way. BICS is leveraging its leadership in mobile technologies to replicate these services for enterprises. Together with our partners, we simplify a very complex environment so companies can deploy this technology, effortlessly and securely."