Today marks the first day in which the U.K. government-backed Worcestershire 5G Consortium has switched on the first-ever 5G factory trial. The Consortium has used Worcester Bosch factory as the test bed for the new smart technology-led factory, in a move which has been touted as the first step towards Industry 4.0, the fourth industrial revolution.
Worcester Bosch, an engineering giant in the UK, is testing the new 5G technology in the hope that the smart technology will lead to greater output for the factory, as well as assist with preventative maintenance measures through Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and data analytics.
Chair of the Worcestershire 5G Testbed and Trails, Mark Stansfeld, described the switch-on as, “a monumental step in delivering the vision of the Worcestershire 5G testbed to bring a productivity increase to the manufacturing sector and the U.K. economy”.
How exactly the 5G will work, and impact the factory, remains to be seen, but it is suggested it will assist with IoT connected sensors throughout the factory, and measure speed and latency of end-to-end application performance.
