Part 1: An inflexion point for great change

Every now and again technology reaches an inflexion point where it catches up with rapidly changing business needs and spawns changes that cause significant gains in productivity and profitability. We are again at such an exciting point in time within the realms of industry 4.0, and its success depends largely on how mobile networks respond to new challenges, @SCALE.

I view Smart Manufacturing as a ‘technology fabric’ where the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts - built by those willing to question what’s possible.

How can processes reach maximum efficiency from Big Data driven insights? How will production devices transform into high-value information pods within the IoT? How do we best leverage AI to support us? How can we serve-up zettabytes of data ‘as-a-service’ through Cloud, at the lowest possible cost?

And, how do we make it all work together to make manufacturing smarter?

Each leading vendor in these sophisticated technologies is marching to a different beat, but each is heading toward a common convergence point—an information based value chain solution. As the destination is reached, the compound effect of the whole chain is further improved. This is the epitome of synergy, but its overall efficacy must be sustainable @SCALE and this is revealing a sizable problem!

The need for unfettered access to manufacturing devices, machines and data @SCALE is exposing 4G mobile network limitations. As the technologies it supports scream out for greater connectivity, higher speeds, lower latency and all with Enterprise-Class security & reliability, 4G is left wanting.

So, if we seek to make manufacturing smarter @SCALE we must recognize that 4G/LTE -and its advanced versions- will render the combination of IoT, Big Data, AI & Cloud underutilized i.e. your investments in these technologies will possibly not deliver their maximum return on investment. This is quite a risk considering the huge costs associated with building a smarter manufacturing value chain @SCALE.

 This year alone the worldwide spending on IoT in discrete & process manufacturing will be circa $200 billion – a further $35 billion on Public Cloud, circa $15 billion on AI (growing rapidly) and over $40 Billion in Big Data & Analytics by 2022.

These are huge numbers and they underline our realisation that the journey to making manufacturing ‘Smarter’ is reaching a point of scale where the advantages of 5G mobile networks are badly needed to take us to the next level.

 But, like any new technology there is a chasm to be crossed on the early part of its adoption curve, before it reaches the ‘early majority’ buyers, and finally market domination. The question remains if 5G has enough technical & economic momentum and wherewithal to make the crossing.