Nokia and WEG Brazil launch Industry 4.0 project with 5G private wireless
Nokia and WEG have launched the Open Lab WEG/V2COM project to accelerate the development of Industry 4.0 solutions using the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) platform.
Open Lab WEG/V2COM is being run in partnership with the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development (ABDI) and the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel). The project will utilize Nokia DAC to validate the quality and economic value of solutions developed through the partnership.
Nokia DAC 5G standalone (SA) platform offers reliable high-bandwidth, low-latency private networking, local edge computing capabilities, voice and video services, as well as a catalog of applications, they note. It is a compact platform, comprising network equipment, a cloud-based operation monitoring system and industrial connectors that ease standard and industry-specific protocol connectivity.
The collaborative one-year project will be conducted in a real-life production environment in WEG's factory in Jaraguá do Sul, Santa Catarina. The results will be combined with other independent studies being carried out by Anatel, which is examining business use cases for 5G private wireless.
The plant will function as a laboratory where a private 5G network will be tested alongside a conventional mobile operator network. Several practical and advanced use cases for Industry 4.0 will be developed to verify the productivity gains that the solution can bring, enabling consolidation of consistent models for applications in industrial automation projects.
Looking toward post-pandemic technology and the best conditions for use of 5G, two radio frequencies will be evaluated: one below 6 GHz and the highest, between 27.5 GHz and 27.9 GHz. An independent research institute will analyze the performance of each.
“This 5G project will not only enable us to support the research about 5G deployments in Brazil but it will also accelerate the development of tests, products and solutions for our customers,” said Guilherme Spina, director at V2Com-WEG Group.
Added Marcelo Entreconti, Nokia’s head of enterprise for Latin America, "This project with WEG is the latest example of Nokia's use of 5G private wireless to implement Industry 4.0 in Brazil through our role as a leading supplier and technology partner. Through our technology, we are bringing increased productivity to a myriad of sectors in the critical post-pandemic landscape, and we are committed to meet various industry demands, including high-quality training of personnel, our project with OpenLab Senai, and use cases such as those being tested and applied by WEG."
