Finnish private networking specialist Edzcom has been appointed by industrial machine manufacturer MGA Technologies to build a private 5G network at its new Industry 4.0 innovation lab near Lyon, in France. Edzcom called the installation the “first private 5G lab” in France – for the “manufacturing and biopharmaceuticals” industry.
The French manufacturing firm announced its new MGA TechLab 4.0 at the start of the year, as part of Lyon’s new ‘digital region campus’ in the Civrieux d’Azergues commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. The digital campus is being managed by the regional industrial tech consortium SWARM-itc, which runs collaborative Industry 4.0 innovation and transformation centres (itc), and also counts industrial software firm Dassault Systèmes and system integrator Visiativ as members.
MGA, which produces custom machine tools for pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries, describes its new TechLab 4.0 venue as a “collective and collaborative space that aims to inspire biopharma by demonstrating the [industrial] uses of new mechatronic and digital technologies.” Paris-based pharmaceutical company Sanofi, Lyon-based biotech firm bioMérieux, Swiss mechatronics company STÄUBLI, and German industrial giant Siemens are also engaged at the site.
MGA said: “In 2021, MGA Technologies will accelerate biotechnology… [at its] new dedicated collaborative innovation space – a place for prototyping, [collaboration], and innovation acceleration [that is] unique in Europe.” It suggested the facility will help to promote the concept of Industry 4.0 in pharmaceuticals, giving rise to a broader vision in pharma manufacturing about “biopharma facilit[ies] of the future”
Detail on the new private 5G installation is less clear. Edzom announced the initiative in a LinkedIn post, declaring: “We are thrilled to announce a strategic partnership with MGA Technologies to build the first 5G private wireless network lab in France fully dedicated to the manufacturing and biopharma industry. Through the partnership, the companies will work to boost the 5G ecosystem and help enterprise customers to accelerate their automatization processes.”
There was no mention, in fact, the new network is going into the MGA TechLab 4.0 in Lyon, but there seems little doubt, citing 5G-based industrial applications such as digital twins, augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR), human-machine interfaces (HMI), and sundry real-time process analytics tech (PAT) scenarios. It commented: “The open lab will involve customer enterprises, key players, and technology partners to research further on advanced technologies and use cases devoted to the industry.”
An announcement is expected soon.
