The 5G-ENCODE Project is a £9 Million collaborative project aiming to develop clear business cases and value propositions for 5G applications in the manufacturing industry.
The project is partially funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport of the UK Government as part of their 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme. The project is one of the UK Government’s biggest investments in 5G for manufacturing to date.
What problem are you trying to solve?
Across the UK, businesses from almost every sector are looking to digital transformation as a way to enhance productivity and efficiency. A core part of digital transformation is the application of new networking technologies to revolutionise existing processes.
In manufacturing, the use of 5G to automate and streamline processes will dramatically increase output and drive efficiencies. The 5G-ENCODE project is the next step in our journey to digital transformation, and will test the real-life use cases for 5G technology.
Moreover, use of new, more energy efficient communications technologies like 5G, are expected to have a substantial environmental impact at both national and global levels.
Indeed, research by O2, a 5G-ENCODE partner, found that 5G will facilitate greater flexibility, lower costs and shorter lead times for factory floor production that together could take up to 40 Megatonnes of carbon out of the economy by 2035.
How are you solving that problem?
The key objective is to design and deliver a private 5G network within the National Composites Centre. This will be used to explore new business models and 5G technologies, including network slicing and splicing, within an industrial environment. Specifically, activity will focus on three areas:
- AR/VR to support design, manufacturing and training
- Monitoring and tracking of time sensitive assets
- Wireless real-time in-process monitoring and analytics
5G-ENCODE is a pioneering project looking to make the benefits of 5G technology a reality for UK manufacturers. The project has been set up to establish clear business cases and value propositions for the application of 5G technology in manufacturing.
How has the pandemic impacted your company?
Covid-19 has accelerated the onset of a smarter way of working, based around a more virtual and streamlined working environment.
It has also highlighted the real need for 5G use cases, particularly those relating to virtualisation and the ability to use immersive technologies such as AR/VR and 360-degree training scenarios.
In addition, it has helped improve remote access solutions and potential engagement on the testbed by expanding the collaborative reach for internal and external contractors.
We know that our partners at the NCC have also seen increased interest from schools and universities who are keen to learn about the immersive classroom use cases they are promoting as part of 5G-ENCODE and the Digital Engineering Technology & Innovation (DETI) programme.
Where do you see your company going in 5 years?
Last year 5G-ENCODE achieved the successful implementation of the first phase of the programme – a 4G network.
This will set the baseline for the 5G network, for which we’re engaging with small cell 5G vendors and smart cell technology providers to help implement the 5G demonstrator test bed.
Alongside this we’re inviting technical providers and industry partners who might be interested in using the test bed to work with us through available UK government funding. By working together we will be able to expand the range of use cases in phase 2 (June 2021 – April 2022) of the project.
This means we can show in even more ways the benefits that 5G can offer over 4G and enhance the innovation scope of the programme.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
We’d love to hear from industry partners and technical providers who are keen to test out 5G use cases in an industrial setting. We believe that this project can act as a true catalyst for businesses to realise the wide-reaching benefits of 5G. Get in touch with us to find out more.
