Ericsson has announced that ABB Power Grids will use the 5G-ready Ericsson Industry Connect system at its transformer factory in Ludvika in Sweden, in order to increase productivity and performance.
This is the first commercial application of the latest version of the system at a fully operating manufacturing plant. The smart manufacturing project is a collaboration by the two companies with Nordic carrier Telia and system integrator Afry (formerly Poyry).
ABB Power Grids provides product, system, software and service solutions that are designed to meet the growing demand for electricity with minimum environmental impact. These solutions support utility, industry and transport and infrastructure customers to plan, build, operate and maintain their power infrastructure.
Initially, the Ludvika factory is connecting essential tools such as cordless screwdrivers as part of its digitalization process. Further on, handheld computers will also be connected in order to improve connectivity quality and efficiency compared to their current solution, according to Ericsson.
Ericsson said that the project shows how ecosystem partners come together to enable digital transformation for smart manufacturing. The partners have deployed, integrated, and managed the 5G-ready dedicated cellular network to enable flexible, efficient, and improved production quality.
“We are reviewing remote management of different processes to improve security, efficiency, and quality aspects. Another example is the optimization and remote monitoring of our drying facilities, which operates 24/7 and requires monitoring,” said Tobias Hansson, site manager, ABB Power Grids in Ludvika and SVP for power transformers in Europe at ABB.
“With a dedicated network, ABB Power Grids now have access to a robust and secure infrastructure to support critical data streams between different systems in a connected factory. It is also an innovation platform to test new technologies with partners. We are now discussing how to connect more of the production in the factory to accelerate the company’s digital transformation,” said Magnus Leonhardt, innovation and business director for Telia Sweden.
Erik Josefsson, Head of Advanced Industries at Ericsson, said: ”Ericsson launched a global partnership with ABB at Hannover Messe in April 2019. I am proud to see ABB Power Grids is one of the first ABB factories to go live with a private mobile network in real shop floor production, just after one year.”
By deploying a dedicated network in a fully operational factory, ABB Power Grids have access to a robust and secure network solution which is required for secure data intelligence.
The Swedish vendor said that the Ericsson Industry 4.0 ecosystem is rapidly expanding with over 30 official device partners, nine application partners, and seven system integrators to date.
