As one of the early adopters of 5G technology, Singapore is already a leader in 5G innovation and boasts 95 per cent outdoor coverage as of this year. With such robust connectivity that serves as a foundation for new technologies and solutions, the country is ready to accelerate its journey to Industry 4.0 digitalisation.
Opportunities are aplenty for businesses to harness the capabilities of these next-generation technologies, and many pioneers in Industry 4.0 are already reaping the benefits of digitalisation.
Toyota Production Engineering Centre for example, deployed an industrial-grade private wireless network with Nokia at its Japan manufacturing design centre, employing solutions such as IoT applications, digitalisation, and visualisation.
Similarly, Nippon Steel, one of the world’s largest steel producers, deployed Industry 4.0 technology on a private wireless network and saw improved manufacturing efficiency and safety, as well as reduced maintenance downtime.
In Singapore, a strong outdoor 5G coverage means businesses in the supply chain and transport sectors are most likely to benefit from Industry 4.0 technology early on, improving their efficiency and resilience. Yet, for these companies as well as adjoining industries to unlock the full potential of Industry 4.0, indoor coverage is crucial.
“Enterprises with large and often obstruction-filled facilities such as manufacturing sites or logistics warehouses require robust and pervasive connectivity, which is best achieved with a customised private wireless network deployment,” says Mr Hendry.
“Private wireless networks provide the required levels of flexibility, reliability, bandwidth, speed and security to run these services. Similarly, enterprises that handle proprietary data might not want to run their services over a public network, and choose to deploy a private network instead,” he adds.
Enabled by robust and flexible high-performance networks, innovative digital technologies will propel industries into the next era of productivity, efficiency, and sustainability. And it is important that companies start adopting Industry 4.0 technologies as soon as possible.
Mr Hendry says: “We are seeing a move towards digital transformation across enterprises and industries. If organisations don’t seriously start looking to adopt Industry 4.0, they will fall behind very quickly and lose competitive advantage in the market with their peers profiting from improved productivity, efficiency and business agility.”
“Companies should also not forget that this is a long-term strategy. By putting in place digital transformation capabilities today, they are future-proofing their businesses for further technological innovations such as 6G or the industrial metaverse.”
For more information on Nokia’s Industry 4.0 capabilities, click here.
Brought to you by
