The installation of billions of sensors in industries around the world is generating a real deluge of data, but without an integrated technological substrate, the big data revolution risks remaining a hi-tech fairy tale. What we have observed so far in the field of industry 4.0 was in fact only a taste of what we will see in the coming years, also and above all thanks to the advent of 5G. From logistics to automation, through planning and maintenance, the real challenge will be transforming the deluge into a perfect storm of technologies, infrastructures and skills.
In the vision of the smart factory outlined by Intel there is a technology destined to enable innovative industrial models: 5G. Especially when combined with cloud, edge computing and artificial intelligence. If it is true that the fourth industrial revolution took its first steps many years ago, it is equally true that the technological scenario that stands out on the horizon seems destined to go far beyond the mere interconnection of the devices that inhabit and animate the production plants. The enabling and infrastructural contribution of 5G fits exactly in this context, linked to a double delivery to the demand for power, speed and safety that is already arriving with the diffusion of digital technologies in the factory.
The opportunities to make manufacturing smarter, and therefore more efficient, productive and cheaper, Intel experts predict, are first and foremost vast. 5G will facilitate the proliferation ofInternet of Things, enabling industries to automate manual processes, literally reduce cables without compromising performance, and connect distributed sites. According to estimates collected by analysts of the technology group, by 2025 there will be more than 75 billion IoT devices installed and this could create an economic impact of up to 3.7 trillion dollars in the manufacturing sector. Industry 4.0 evolution will also be powerful: 5G, Intel notes, will mark the shift to seamless connectivity and massive computing capabilities, empowering smart factories with low-latency communication while responding to the growing demand for reliability of the industrial system.
The vastness mentioned earlier also applies to concrete applications of the 5G-enabled smart factory. The use cases of the smart factoryIntel recalls, they span the entire product lifecycle, from sourcing and manufacturing with smart factories, to distribution and sales. Think of logistics, and in particular the monitoring of resources in real time, or the automation of workflows through machine learning systems, planning through the data generated by the interconnection of hundreds of devices and predictive maintenance of machines. to reduce inactivity and reset stops. All activities that promise to also affect budgets, from a 30% reduction in maintenance costs to an increase in supply chain productivity by 15%.
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