02.09.2020
Mercedes-Benz Cars opens "Factory 56":Production facilities are connected in real time via o2 5G campus network
Markus Haas
Today, the car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz Cars put one of the world's most modern car production facilities into operation - an all-digital, flexible and green factory - the "Factory 56". A core element of the new, fully networked production facility in Sindelfingen will be the 5G campus network that Telefónica Deutschland / O2 has built for Mercedes-Benz Cars in cooperation with network equipment supplier Ericsson. The fifth generation of mobile communications will connect machines and systems intelligently, securely, wirelessly and in real time. In future, the network will be used in ongoing automobile production.
"With 5G, the concept of Industry 4.0 becomes reality. The Mercedes-Benz Cars plant in Sindelfingen is setting new innovation standards here. I am proud to have played our part in this industrial 5G flagship project. The new 5G mobile communications standard is impressive with particularly fast data transfer rates, very high accuracy and short delay times. 5G is becoming a huge efficiency lever in robotics, in the connection of production facilities and thus in industry as a whole," says Markus Haas, CEO of Telefónica Deutschland / O2.
5G campus networks enable fully networked and automated production
Mallik Rao
Telefónica Deutschland / O2 has a broad experience in planning and building 5G campus networks. The mobile phone standard 5G enables a completely digital factory and fully networked logistics processes. 5G supports efficiency and accuracy in the production process and enables the integration of completely new industrial applications. As a result, an automobile manufacturer no longer has to rebuild the entire production line for a new car model, but can design it in an extremely flexible manner. In industrial production, autonomously moving transport vehicles based on 5G can deliver material precisely to the second.
"We have extensive know-how in the construction and operation of private networks, for example for 5G campus solutions," says Mallik Rao, Chief Technology & Information Officer of Telefónica Deutschland / O2. "These are of particular interest to business customers and industrial companies that need local networks for their production and logistics sites. With tailor-made network infrastructure solutions such as the 5G campus network for Mercedes-Benz Cars and in the future with our cloud-based 5G core network, we are opening up new digital opportunities for business customers".
Simplified design and faster integration of industrial applications
5G campus networks usually consist of a radio network and a local core network.
5G campus networks usually consist of a radio network and a local core network. The radio network is composed of several powerful 5G antennas, which ensure seamless mobile radio coverage and networking in the production facility. All data converge in a separate 5G core network and are processed centrally there. This core network usually consists of compact servers.
As the first network operator in Germany, Telefónica Deutschland / o2 is taking another innovative step and will also offer its industrial customers a cloud-based 5G core network in the future, which will make the installation of local servers unnecessary and thus significantly simplify the construction of campus networks once again. The cloud-based 5G core network will enable new industrial solutions to be developed more quickly, production and logistics processes to be automated even further and applications to be implemented in real time (edge computing). The company is thus heralding a new era in the digital connectivity of the German economy.