The business case for edge technology in manufacturing, logistics and industrial settings

What do efficiency, productivity, and safety all have in common? They’re all top priorities for manufacturers as they migrate to Industry 4.0, where the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and analytics enable unprecedented automation.

That makes edge computing critical — not only for manufacturers but also for the mobile operators, systems integrators, and other vendors targeting the manufacturing, transportation, and logistics sectors with private 5G solutions. In fact, in a recent Heavy Reading/Omdia survey, mobile operators said they predict the manufacturing vertical to be the top revenue generator for their edge computing services. 

Here’s an overview of some of the top business benefits that edge computing can provide to manufacturers, and where private 5G fits in. 

1. Minimize downtime and optimize productivity

Factories are a delicate ecosystem of machinery and electronics. If one piece of equipment stops working, it can shut down the entire manufacturing process.

Edge technology can help prevent downtime by continually monitoring equipment health and using that data to predict when a piece of machinery is likely to fail. Predictive maintenance is key for avoiding extensive, expensive damage and downtime. Manufacturers can also use edge computing to safely operate equipment and prevent unplanned downtime. For example, by tracking vibration, temperature, fluid viscosity, and other parameters, manufacturers can pinpoint exactly when a piece of equipment needs servicing. With edge applications, they save money on labor, parts, and production downtime because they’re performing maintenance only when it’s really required.

2. Maximize automation and safety

The majority of factory work is now carried out by machines such as industrial robots. This automation can improve employee health by, for example, performing tasks that used to lead to repetitive-motion injuries, back strain, and lead to workplace accidents. 

Edge computing enables additional layers of safety. For example, cameras on autonomous material-handling vehicles can track how close they come to employees as they move around a factory. Analytics platforms at the edge can identify near misses and potentially hazardous areas so those routes can be adjusted to put more space between those vehicles and employees. 

Cameras and proximity sensors also can instantly identify when an employee is too close to an industrial robot or a conveyor belt. The analytics platform at the edge can automatically shut down that piece of equipment and alert the safety team to check whether that proximity means the employee is injured.  

These use cases highlight the broad, deep value of edge computing: Uploading that data all the way up to the cloud takes time — and money. But with the edge, it can be analyzed and acted on entirely locally. That speed could make the difference between life and severe injury — or even death — while eliminating the expense of continually sending all that data to a server half a continent away. 

3. Real-Time inventory management

A highly accurate, up-to-the-moment inventory of raw materials and finished products is critical for just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing. Edge computing ensures that supply chain managers, supervisors, and others always know exactly what their facility’s inventory holds. 

JIT manufacturers typically are located near their customers, such as dashboard manufacturers that build factories a few miles from the automakers that they serve. Those manufacturers can extend their edge computing to their customers so they know exactly what’s coming off of the assembly line at any moment in time. If the plant doesn’t have its own fleet of trucks, then its logistics provider could integrate with that real-time data to know exactly how many trucks to send and when to synchronize all aspects of the supply chain. 

Edge computing also can support maintenance inventory by tracking all of the parts on-site. When the predictive maintenance analytics platform determines that a piece of equipment will need service, it can verify the necessary parts are in stock and, if not, automatically order them. This enables maintenance to keep a lean inventory, which saves money.

How to seize the edge computing opportunity

To capitalize on the edge computing opportunity in the manufacturing and industrial sector, mobile operators and systems integrators should educate potential customers about the bottom-line and competitive benefits of private 5G versus alternatives such as Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and private or public 4G.

5G’s speed and mission-critical reliability are key for moving large volumes of data quickly with single-digit-millisecond latency.

• In the Heavy Reading survey, network security intrusion and anomaly detection (43 percent) and network QoS performance visibility (38 percent) were among the top capabilities that service providers are looking for.
• Mobile operators and systems integrators may need to partner with an edge computing specialist to create a turnkey, comprehensive solution that meets all of a prospective customer’s requirements. As the Heavy Reading survey shows, platform reliability (40 percent) and built-in security (34 percent)  top the list of must-have solution attributes for edge computing platforms.   

To see more on edge computing deployment and assurance challenges, as well as the benefits of technology, read Heavy reading’s report Harnessing Edge Computing for 2022, co-sponsored by Accedian – read the report here. The report surveyed 82 global telcos and service providers about edge deployment challenges, drivers of mobile edge computing, uncertainties around system integration, whether to partner with cloud service providers, and more. 

To find out more about how Accedian and Ori Industries enable enterprises to run applications with unparalleled confidence, extracting the best Quality of Experience from their infrastructure, reducing costly downtime, and enabling the most performance-critical use cases, securely, download the solution brief.