The SA 5G network supports use cases like machine health monitoring, drone inspections and digital twins
Vodafone Portugal and Ericsson have partnered to deploy a Standalone (SA) private 5G at Portuguese cement manufacturer Cimpor’s production facility as part of a larger effort to test this technology across various industrial applications and environments.
According to the companies, Cimpor is using the SA 5G network for enhanced operational efficiency and to enable automation across its production process.
The network, which is using Ericsson’s RAN and multi-operator core network offerings, is already supporting specific use cases at the cement plant including machine health monitoring, drone inspections, smart glasses, HD and wireless cameras and digital twins capabilities.
“In addition to these use cases, the possibilities created by this network enable the full implementation of Industry 4.0 features, such as remote monitoring of equipment, the operation of autonomous devices and the permanent monitoring of workers during the performance of demanding tasks, using alarms,” said Ericsson in a press release.
The vendor stated as well that the scalability of its cloud-based products will enable Cimpor to “start small and expand the network as needed.” It will also “contribute to more agile operations at a lower cost and quicker, more informed decision-making,” continued Ericsson.
Cimpor intends to deploy similar SA 5G private networks at two of its other plant locations in the coming months.
