Singapore’s IMDA to Run a Manufacturing 5G Trial with the Help of IBM, Samsung, and M1

Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), IBM, Samsung, and M1 will be running a smart manufacturing trial starting in June 2020. The trial involves developing, testing, and benchmarking 5G-enabled solutions in order to demonstrate how 5G networks enhance Industry 4.0 technologies. The trial will receive some of the S$40 million Research and Development (R&D) fund that IMDA made available with the aim of developing the country’s digital infrastructure, complementing Singapore’s Smart Nation and Digital Economy endeavors.

Solutions will focus on how 5G networks can help manufacturers increase production, service, and/or quality control. The aim is for the solutions to become commercially available by the end of 2020, and IMDA will share the trial’s findings with local businesses.

IBM will be leading the implementation and testing of the solutions, calling upon its expertise in Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), edge, and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies, as well as network architecture from Red Hat, at IBM Singapore’s Centre of Competency (CoC) for Smart Factory Operating Model located in Changi Business Park. Samsung will take responsibility for providing an End-to-End (E2E) 5G Standalone network platform into the facility, and provide phones, edge devices, and mobile and network technologies and M1 will be the telecoms provider for the 5G network.

Currently, manufacturers’ implementations of 5G networks into their facilities is restricted to a few lighthouse facilities, as discussed in ABI Research’s 5G and Edge Networks in Manufacturing (AN-4904) Application Analysis Report. Initiatives such as this and the test bed in the United Kingdom at Worcester Bosch—outlined in the ABI Insight A 5G Network Improves Productivity at Worcester Bosch but More Work Required to Encourage Others to Follow (IN-5726)—highlight that coalitions of suppliers and government agencies are critical to fuel enthusiasm among manufacturers.  

In terms of Industry 4.0 technologies, the trial will look to explore the low latency and high bandwidth afforded by a 5G network because, currently, the industry lacks formal benchmarks. The companies will be measuring the latency speeds needed to support robotic arms and communication between IoT-enabled devices on the factory floor. The trial will examine several use cases that require a network to support high volumes of data, including visual inspections whereby AI technologies will be deployed to support image recognition and perform video analytics in real time. Other applications include using the 5G network to underpin AR tools that conduct 3D modeling of a facility and monitor devices’ status collecting acoustics using AI to provide insights based on the sounds.

As mentioned above, stakeholders currently lack robust benchmarks when it comes to performance levels of a 5G network and, in addition, the trial’s stakeholders have not published their expectations quantifying how the 5G network improves performance levels on the factory floor.

According to IMDA, manufacturing accounts for 21% of Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which explains why the authority is investing in this trial and the desire for the island’s manufacturers to adopt new techniques and business models. It is noteworthy that, despite COVID 19 putting pressure on government budgets, Singapore’s government is exhibiting long-term thinking by continuing to invest in trials of this nature.

The trial also shows the growing relationship between IBM and Samsung, with the firms already partnering to develop a solution to track workers’ vital health signs by leveraging IBM’s software expertise and Samsung’s devices. For M1, participating in the trial helps to improve the company’s engineering capabilities in regard to 5G standalone technology for enabling secure hyper-connectivity, E2E network slicing, and ultra-low latency.

The trial has a good chance of achieving success by combining a local telecoms provider and a hardware producer of global renown with a technology firm with years of relevant experience; especially as the two firms are already working together. It is becoming clear that government agencies need to fund trials of 5G networks to encourage experimentation by local manufacturers. The trial ends in December 2020, and IMDA has intimated that more funding could become available if the authority wants to take uses cases forward; the authority is already doing so elsewhere, continuing trials of driverless vehicles running on a 5G network in ports.

If successful, the trial will showcase Singapore's 5G capabilities and strengthen the country’s reputation as a regional industrial innovation hub. It also shows IMDA’s goal to help foster an ecosystem in which local information and communication companies and startups can work alongside multinational firms.