Nokia is working with the networking division of Croatian broadcaster and telecoms company OIV to install a private 5G network to drive Industry 4.0 operations for automotive component manufacturer AD Plastik Group in Croatia. The ‘campus’ deployment is billed as the first standalone private 5G setup in the country.
OIV’s Digital Signals and Networks division, which handles “national strategic communications infrastructure” in Croatia, has recruited Nokia to network AD Plastik’s new Industry 4.0 strategy, supporting its “digitalization and factory automation” initiatives. AD Plastik produces interior and exterior car components. It has production plants in Solin and Zagreb, and factories in Serbia, Russia, and Hungary. The company employs around 2,500 people.
Nokia has supplied its Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) application platform, comprising a cloud-based private 5G system, plus edge compute functions, and number of Nokia-provided and third-party industrial IoT applications. It is being installed at the Zagreb plant. A statement said: “It will replace and overcome the limitations of the existing Wi-Fi infrastructure to allow AD Plastik to implement new Industry 4.0 use-cases and enhance operational efficiency.”
Marinko Došen, president of AD Plastik, said: “Further digitalization and automation of business in our industry is a necessity. Just as your chances in the market are reduced if you produce vehicles that cannot be connected, so you have to keep up with trends in the production of automotive components. Industry 4.0 is our reality, and we must be ready to continue its implementation.
“5G technology… allows us to simultaneously connect smart and digital devices that we use every day in our production, and which will be even more represented in the future. Simply put, at the moment it is the basis for connecting devices that will help us in the production and delivery processes, and for the future we create the preconditions for building a modern, digital and promising company.”
Andrej Skenderović, project manager at OIV Digital Signals and Networks, said: “We see private 5G as a key technology for development in the next decade. We launched this project [to expand] the range of our services… We see the potential to start the recovery and further development of the industry. We hope with this project we will continue to be the leading provider of innovative services in our country.”
Michael Siegel, director of Nokia’s enterprise division in southeast Europe, said: “By implementing the Nokia DAC, AD Plastik will benefit from the highest reliability and lowest latency connectivity for all their operations, allowing the company to accelerate its digitalisation and industry 4.0 transformation for greater efficiency and flexibility while maintaining quality and safety in its manufacturing facility in Croatia”
