Technology never stands still. Change is inevitable with the dominant technologies of the day eventually giving way to new waves of innovation that push an industry forward. This trend is currently at play in the world of manufacturing and B2B operations as 4G, the dominant communications standard of the past decade, is now being replaced by 5G.
While eventually 5G itself will be usurped by the next generation, right now it offers manufacturers the promise of being a viable, wireless technology to augment, and even replace, traditional wired industrial network connections. This has the potential to be a paradigm shift that can help define and build the factories of the future. One that helps reduce expenditure and time-to-market while simultaneously improving organizational flexibility and communications.
For manufacturers, 5G is now an enabler of digital transformation in smart manufacturing to help deliver business outcomes that range from encouraging agility to improving sustainability. Industrial operations can take advantage of the rise of 5G to meet their need for high-performance wireless connectivity and use it to evolve into a more connected enterprise.