Omron Partners with Nokia to Accelerate 5G Capabilities on Manufacturing Floor
Japanese electronics giant Omron partnered with Nokia to accelerate 5G solutions in industrial manufacturing applications.
As part of the collaboration, Omron will now join the "Nokia Local 5G Technology Partnership," the company's local 5G ecosystem for enterprises, which currently counts six market leaders in Japan.
The group focuses on 5G solution development in numerous industrial sectors.
An infographic describing Omron’s role in the new 5G Partnership. Image courtesy of Omron.
Omron joined the partnership to develop 5G applications intended to address issues specifically on the manufacturing floor.
The Nokia Local 5G Technology Partnership
Nokia first announced the Local 5G Technology Partnership last week. The group comprises industry giants Conexio, Hitachi Kokusai, Nippon Steel (NS) Solutions, Omron, and Sharp.
The companies will work in concert by bringing together industry, device, applications, cloud, and 5G expertise to create industry-focused solutions. The products created as the fruit of this collaboration will integrate Nokia’s 5G at the concept and design phase and focus on specific technologies, including remote control, AI, automation, and robotics.
To facilitate development, the Nokia Local 5G Technology Partnership will also see the company sharing its Digital Automation Cloud and Modular Private Wireless solutions with its collaborators. The new initiative follows Nokia’s first 5G development program in Japan, which the company launched in December 2019.
Six Market Leaders
Despite focusing on shared goals, the companies behind the Nokia Local 5G Technology Partnership will each contribute to the initiative in a different way.
For example, Omron will provide the alliance with factory automation solutions like autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), sensors and controllers, and control technology.
An Omron AMR on the factory floor. Image courtesy of Omron.
The company will also make one of its factory sites available for conducting the partnership's trials.
CONEXIO will contribute to the project with its Edge Computing Gateway CONEXIOBlackBear, while Sharp will share its local 5G router devices.
NS Solutions, on the other hand, will provide the partnership with a variety of digital transformation technology services, including private 5G implementation, safety monitoring, remote operation, and digital twin creation. Hitachi Kokusai will contribute to the Nokia Local 5G Technology Partnership with its 5G wireless systems and solutions for smart factories, as well as technologies combining 5G and AI.
5G Projected Outcomes
According to Donny Janssens, Head of Nokia Enterprise Japan, the new partnership will foster the local 5G private wireless ecosystem’s growth by bringing together several key players who are central to driving Industry 4.0 adoption in the country.
“[The partnership] recognizes that hyper-fast, highly reliable and secure 5G connectivity has a crucial role to play in enabling the digital transformation necessary for Industry 4.0 use cases,” Janssens explained.
The implementation of 5G private wireless solutions by Nokia within their own infrastructure could change the way they operate during the construction or manufacturing process.
Nokia understands customers want solutions for operation, construction, and manufacturing. Through the Nokia Local 5G Technology Partnership, the integration will be complete and ready for deployment.
For more information about Nokia's 5G Solutions, visit the Nokia website.
