Chalmers University, Ericsson and SKF take the lead in developing 5G technologies for achieving world-class manufacturing

Chalmers University, Ericsson and SKF today announces the launch of 5G Enabled Manufacturing (5GEM), a two-year project aimed at combining the next generation mobile technology, 5G, with manufacturing technologies to increase the sustainable competitiveness of Swedish industry. 5GEM is being supported by Vinnova, a part of the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise. As part of the project, a pilot production system for world-class spherical roller bearing manufacturing, making use of 5G technologies, will be developed at SKF’s factory in Gothenburg. Johan Stahre, 5GEM Project Manager says: “The project’s vision is to create a world-class manufacturing system that demonstrates enhanced performance through improved efficiency, increased flexibility and traceability. A key component of the project is ensuring these technologies are easily transferable to other manufacturing industries.” Being delivered in four phases, 5GEM will address the four main life-cycle phases of a manufacturing system: design, deployment, operation and maintenance. In each phase, best practice use of mobile ICT infrastructure, connectivity tools, sensors and operator-system interaction will be developed to ensure consistent and integrated information flows.