Drives & Controls April 2022

n TALKING INDUSTRY Small steps in 5G, IIoT and communications Connectivity is key to Industry 4.0. From fieldbus to industrial Ethernet, from proprietary technologies to open standards, the evolution of network technologies has boosted productivity and increased interoperability. The latest Talking Industry online panel discussion considered at issues involving these technologies, as chairman Andy Pye reports,. 30 April 2022 www.drivesncontrols.com T he tenth Talking Industry Webinar in the series covered a variety of issues centred around the topics of the IIoT, communications and 5G. The five-man international panel comprised some regular panellists, along with two appearing for the first time. The speakers joined the discussion from the US, Israel, France, Scotland ... and Essex. One of two first-time panellists, Jonathan Orr from R&D Advisors, specialises in financial incentives and tax credits for research and development. His company helps small and large businesses to access funding to help accelerate innovation in these areas. The second Talking Industry first-timer, Gilad Garon, is from an Israeli company called Asocs, which enables industrial enterprises to connect their production lines to edge applications via cloud-based private 5G networks and a scalable Software as a Service (SaaS) model. Garon co-founded Asocs in 2003 and has been spearheading the company as CEO ever since. He explained how the company’s software- based private 5G network enables applications such as video and imaging AI processing, autonomous vehicle mobility, synchronised production line robots and real-time big data analysis. “Factories are typically set in areas where the cellular infrastructure sucks, especially when it comes to providing mission-critical communications, and certainly in rural areas,”Garon reported.“Sometimes it’s so horrible that they can’t even call their homes! That’s where 5G private networks come in – and they come with a completely different business model from what the big carriers or the big vendors are offering.” During the pre-Covid era, the UK’s communications regulator Ofcom allowed the control of 5G to move from the traditional carriers to business owners by defining a specific spectrum that everyone can use. In doing so, the UK has aligned itself with Germany and Taiwan – the first three countries to enable 5G private networks to be established without involving the large Telcos. “Most business owners have tonnes of information, but barely know what to do with it,”Garon said.“What we're trying to achieve with 5G is not to collect information, but to act on it in real-time. “Everybody is talking about 5G being able to support a million devices, but most users are going to support 50 or 100 devices,”he continued.“You do not need to build a monster private network coming from a large vendor for millions of pounds – even if you can get some of that back from the UK Government! What you actually need is a good enough ‘pay-as-you-grow’network that meets your business expectations.” People and culture The middle segment of the event involved two experienced panellists: Michaël Lefeuvre from Red Lion Controls, and Chris McComb from Itech, who was representing the Profibus community. Lefeuvre focused on the often-forgotten importance of people and cultures in implementing IIoT projects. McComb then provided an update on Profibus and related technologies. “I wanted to talk about people and culture based on what we have observed by meeting people,”Lefeuvre said. “They all understand that they want to capitalise on the production data. But there is a disconnect between the big picture and what these people are capable of doing. “People just get lost in the technology and changed processes,”he continued. “They don't really understand why they get so much data or what to do with it. And because it’s so fast, they are bewildered by going from nothing to something too big in one step. And that’s one reason why around 70% of IoT projects fail. “But if you can invest in a small application,”Lefeuvre argued, “even with a normal maintenance team, and without advanced IT skills, you can you already can put in place a good IoT application. It’s better to invest successfully in a small IoT project, then you will be able to capitalise on and improve it, year after year. Chris McComb is on the steering committee of Profibus, an organisation that, he says “provides valuable insight and