5G and digital twins: the production line of tomorrow

When a technical issue occurs on a production line in a plant, an operator usually has to be physically present for inspection or maintenance. However, this is not always a simple process. In the pharmaceutical industry, for example, the area must be sterilised again afterward, which can halt production for several hours.

Digital twin

Wouldn’t it be much easier if inspection, operation and maintenance could be carried out remotely? This is what a digital twin makes possible. The digitalised copy of the machine behaves in virtually the same way as the real-world original. Machines can be monitored and operated without anyone being physically present.

The Liège competence centre Technifutur uses an Industry 4.0 demonstrator for its training courses, which includes an integrated digital twin. Quentin Ledent, Lead Engineer for Industry 4.0 at Technifutur, explains: “The demonstrator is actually a mini-plant that incorporates all the technologies and methodologies of Industry 4.0. To integrate a digital twin, we needed 5G SA coverage.”

Flexible and efficient with 5G

Orange installed the required 5G infrastructure at Technifutur’s location. Geert Vanderveken, Customer Solution Architect at Orange Belgium, explains the setup: “On the roof of Technifutur, there is a MIMO pickup antenna that receives two different 5G streams from the macro site. This signal is amplified by a 5G repeater inside the building and distributed across two MIMO antennas in two separate spaces within Technifutur.” B2C Engineering integrated the Siemens 5G modems into the production line on Technifutur’s local network.

Production lines must be flexible and efficient because the future brings numerous new challenges and fast-changing demands. 5G is a powerful solution, says Ledent: “5G offers high speeds, low latency – the time required to send data between two endpoints – and strong security.” Orange Belgium has successfully carried out numerous 5G projects.

An important tool for achieving these benefits is 5G slicing. “Slicing creates an end-to-end secure connection between two user devices,” explains Vanderveken. The devices in the production line have their own private “motorway” on the 5G network, separate from the rest of the network, with guaranteed bandwidth and low latency.

Simulations and flexible adjustments

The second goal of this project is to use the digital twin to fully simulate adjustments to Technifutur’s production line. These lines must meet increasingly strict standards in terms of flexibility, and the required hardware is often very expensive. The digital twin allows Technifutur to analyse whether adjustments will have the desired impact before making any investments.

The technology is wireless. The OT infrastructure connects directly to 5G, eliminating the need for additional cabling – another significant advantage when adjustments are necessary. New cabling is not required as long as the location is already covered by 5G. This is how Orange Belgium supports Technifutur’s efforts to create the plant of tomorrow.