
Manufacturers are starting to understand just how much business intelligence is possible with the Internet of Things: Connected devices streaming reams of valuable data to algorithms that, in turn, learn how to spot trouble before it happens. Every step of the process — from manufacturing to product service — can benefit from smart devices communicating in real-time.
But even businesses using the fastest 4G networks are starting to question that oft-used term: “real-time.”
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4G can support approximately 2,000 devices per square kilometer, and as mobile devices proliferate those boundaries are under stress.
But there are promising solutions on the horizon. The cutting edge, often-hyped 5G network tech currently being rolled out and tested by global telcos is poised to become essential to leveraging business intelligence.
Its technical details are complex, but 5G is, simply put, faster and better. It’s projected to support one million devices per square kilometer. Downlink speeds are spec’d at 20Gbps, and latency (how long it takes data to travel from A to B through a network) is expected to max out at four milliseconds versus 4G’s 20 milliseconds.
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Even though widespread 5G connectivity is still a few years away, Sharath Prasad says many manufacturers are trying to gauge their investment in the space. As Cognizant’s connected products portfolio lead, Prasad says “the pervasiveness of 5G, the cost of 5G and its adoption rates can all drive operational intelligence.”
Vivek Diwanji, senior director of technology at Cognizant, says this shortened latency is the real potential benefit to IoT-enabled businesses. “5G and edge devices are where the overall story is going to change in terms of the way data will be consumed, analyzed and leveraged,” he said.
So what does this mean for manufacturers? A number of things:
If a connected manufacturing device senses a problem on the line, for example, getting shut-down instructions in four milliseconds instead of 20 could save thousands of dollars in faulty product coming through the pipeline.
The value of IoT doesn’t always end inside the factory walls. Once some connected products leave the factory — an automobile for example — and deploy into the field, 5G connectivity can feed product engineering teams with more data and insight on how a product functions on the — traditionally — dark side of the moon.
The list of benefits of 5G is long.
“I think that’s going to be the bigger impact of 5G overall,” says Diwanji, “not only as a backbone for infrastructure, but from the overall customer experience standpoint.”
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Relying on telcos to deploy 5G at scale may be a waiting game, but manufacturers can also outfit their own facilities with 5G networks to reap benefits today.
Prasad says groups such as CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) are working to expand 5G capabilities into existing mobile network technology thanks to recently released radio spectrum.
With some hardware investment, he says manufacturers can set up their own 5G-based network using the CBRS’s framework and “actually do away with dependence on a carrier … Even if factories are located in remote areas without reliable wireless connectivity, they can actually set-up a CBRS-based 5G network just to cover their factory and provide good quality connectivity there without having to shell out a huge cost to carriers.”
5G’s lighting-fast speeds will reshape consumer expectations for entertainment, shopping and social connectivity. So too will it reshape the business sector. In a world where one company’s “big data” intelligence is pit against another’s, speed will define market leadership.