McKinsey and Company: five ways 5G can change manufacturing

As global trends continue to drive the digitalisation of processes and operations, we take a look at the five ways 5G can change the manufacturing industry. The development of 5G connectivity, which is said to be 25 times faster than 4G networks, with lagging reduced to almost zero, is predicted to provide endless opportunities to drive digitalisation and connectivity along the entire value chain for factories. For many years, automation within factories relies on the physical installation of programmable logic controllers on the technology they control, which is then hard-wired into computer networks. With the predicted 5G capabilities, manufacturers could make their PLCs virtual and take them into the cloud. As a result machines can be wirelessly controlled in real-time at a reduced cost. With the industry often required to perform complex maintenance and control tasks which are guided by standard operating procedures which come in the form of paper manuals, video and augmented reality.