- Total project value: £9,517,019
- DCMS funding: £4,793,162
- Project location: North West
The project aims to develop integrated solutions to some of the key challenges to deploying 5G technologies in manufacturing, using 5G to test use cases such as robotic assembly, reconfigurable product assembly lines and distributed and shared VR/AR. The programme will establish a primary site at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) North West and secondary sites in BAE Systems Warton and AMRC Sheffield.
Austin Cook, Lead Engineer for Emerging Technologies & Systems at BAE Systems said:
"5G technology is core to enabling the next generation of digital manufacturing processes and the acceleration of digital technology adoption across the manufacturing sector. The 5G FoF programme will drive forward holistic connectivity and unlock the potential of industrial digitisation. It will define a new paradigm for how future factories will operate enabling connectivity and business agility both across manufacturing operations and beyond into the supply chain.
The transformative potential of 5G technology will be developed and demonstrated via a strong consortium, including the UK Catapult Network and the BAE Systems Factory of the Future which is applying game-changing digital technologies to advance manufacturing on the UK’s next generation combat aircraft system, Tempest.
More about the Factory of the Future 5G Project
The 5G Factory of the Future project brings together industrial and academic leaders from the manufacturing and telecommunications sectors to establish a 5G manufacturing testbed. The programme will develop integrated solutions for key challenges in deploying 5G technologies in industry, demystifying the technology and helping the UK to realise the benefits.
The consortium members are: University of Sheffield AMRC North West (lead); aql; BAE Systems; Digital Catapult; IBM; Miralis Data; MTT.
The primary drivers for manufacturers adopting 5G and other digital technologies is the opportunity to reduce operating costs, improve productivity and increase outputs. The implementation of the 5G Factory of the Future project will give real-time visibility of such activities and enable manufacturers to:
- Predict downtime, optimise delivery schedules and provide improved customer service in a trusted supply chain;
- Enable efficient integration and exploitation of mobile IoT technology for digital manufacturing;
- Provide full connectivity between the workers, the machinery, the supply chain and the product to optimise operations;
- Develop full life-cycle product management from incoming materials, to products being recycled;
Develop new business models and sustainable services.
The programme will deliver these benefits through a set of case studies focused on, but not limited to, aerospace manufacturing. The case studies are designed to test the most challenging and ground-breaking areas of 5G for manufacturing: increasing bandwidth, decreasing latency, ensuring security across a robust network and augmenting supply chain transparency, ensuring the future industrial sustainability.
Key technology areas:
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- Mobile Edge Computing (MEC)
- visual inspection
- artificial intelligence (AI)
- machine learning (ML)
- Virtual reality (VR)
- Augmented reality (AR)
- Digital twins.
The programme will establish a primary site at the University of Sheffield AMRC North West in Preston with secondary sites at BAE Systems in Warton and the AMRC in Sheffield. These locations will test the industrial capabilities of 5G and the surrounding services to develop connected, intelligent processes; and identify the challenges and opportunities these bring for developing new business models within the sector.
Related resources
Organisations participating in this project
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BAE Systems
At BAE Systems, our advanced defence technology protects people and national security, and keeps critical information and infrastructure secure Learn more... -
IBM
World-changing progress IBMers believe in progress—that the application of intelligence, reason and science can improve business, society and the human condition Learn more... -
University of Sheffield AMRC
The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) is a network of world-leading research and innovation centres working with manufacturing companies of any size from around the globe. Learn more... -
Creative Industries, Security
Digital Catapult
Digital Catapult supports and promotes digital innovation and transformation to drive growth in the UK economy. Learn more... -
aql
aql is one of the UK’s most innovative telecoms operators and a ‘hidden enabler’ of the smart city. Working across messaging, voice, data centre, connectivity and M2M & IoT, aql securely connects people, organisations and things to make society better. Learn more... -
Miralis Data
Miralis Data are a transport, logistics and supply chain optimisation specialist. We help create efficiencies, cut operational costs and reduce emissions in the logistics and supply chain process by putting algorithms and machine learning at the heart of bespoke and own product software solutions. Learn more...