SKT Unveils Five 5G Integration Solutions for Manufacturing
Upgrading Smart Factories with 5G, AI, and the Cloud
5G Smart Factory Alliance Launched with 19 Participating Organizations


5G, AI, and cloud technologies are accelerating innovation in manufacturing, the foundation of South Korea's industrial sector.

On the 20th, SK Telecom announced its 5G smart factory expansion strategy at the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Center in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, and demonstrated five solutions that combine 5G and advanced ICT, including the '5G multi-functional collaborative robot', '5G smart flexible production facility (Smart Base Block)', '5G small autonomous driving robot (AMR)', 'AR smart glass', and '5G-AI machine vision'.

The Smart Manufacturing Innovation Center is an organization that conducts research and development, testing, and testing on smart manufacturing to enhance the competitiveness of the domestic manufacturing industry. It is operated by a public-private joint task force under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.


Introducing "All-in-One Package" and "Simple Edge" to Expand Smart Factories
SK Telecom diagnosed that domestic manufacturers are experiencing difficulties such as rising manufacturing equipment prices, rapid increase in data processing volume, and disruption in the transfer of know-how from skilled workers.

Many companies are trying to solve these difficulties by incorporating ICT, but there have been limitations due to construction costs and complexity. There are also limitations in organically combining smart factory solutions or utilizing big data.
SK Telecom has decided to provide an all-in-one package that includes a 5G network, specialized solutions, a data analysis platform, and terminals to enable many manufacturing plants to easily transition into smart factories.

SK Telecom analyzes data generated in the field to identify areas for improvement and recommends appropriate solutions. It also provides consulting services to help integrate cutting-edge technologies like 5G, AI, and cloud computing across all facilities.

This all-in-one package is useful for small and medium-sized businesses seeking to implement smart factories but struggling to secure IT expertise. It lowers the cost of building smart factories, efficiently manages data, and builds a database of on-site expertise.

In addition, SK Telecom is promoting 'Simple Edge', which centralizes and virtualizes smart factory solutions to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Simple Edge is a structure that virtualizes complex solutions for each facility into a central server, and installs only simple equipment that executes commands at the end of the facility. While previously, all equipment for sensing, analysis, control, and operation had to be installed for each facility, the simple edge architecture can significantly reduce the scale of the equipment required.


5G Factory Standardization Alliance Launched, Joining 19 Companies and Organizations
SK Telecom is also leading the standardization of 5G smart factory specifications, helping the ecosystem to rapidly expand. The "5G Smart Factory Alliance (5G-SFA)," led by SK Telecom and the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Center, was launched on the 20th with the participation of 19 companies and organizations. SK Telecom is the only telecommunications company participating.
Companies active in various areas of smart factories, including Samsung Electronics, Microsoft, Bosch, and Siemens, are using 5G-SFA to unify fragmented technologies and standards and create universal, compatible solutions. They are also jointly developing commercial technologies and business models leveraging 5G.

Establishing unified standards will accelerate the development of 5G smart factory solutions and reduce costs. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will also be able to easily upgrade their solutions.

According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, companies that introduced smart factories achieved a 30% increase in productivity, a 43.5% decrease in defect rates, and a 15.9% decrease in costs over three years. IHS Markit predicts that by 2035, 5G will generate an economic impact of approximately $3.364 trillion in global manufacturing.

Jang Hong-seong, head of SK Telecom's IoT/Data business division, said, "5G smart factories will create high added value that goes beyond existing performance and market outlook through all-in-one packages, simple edges, and standardization."


Five 5G Smart Factory Solutions Boost Productivity Through Collaboration
SK Telecom and the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Center publicly demonstrated five 5G smart factory solutions on the 20th. These solutions focus on increasing overall productivity through human collaboration. They also incorporate cutting-edge technologies like 5G, AI, and the cloud. As universal solutions, they offer the advantage of being easily implemented by any company.
The "5G Multifunctional Collaborative Robot" is a cart-shaped robot measuring 5 meters wide, 3 meters long, and 2 meters high, equipped with a six-axis robotic arm and 3D sensing capabilities. It autonomously loads products into its internal space and moves autonomously. Its primary use is to move products to the next production line at the request of workers, or to collect and transport defective products to a separate area.

5G, connected to an AI server, transmits commands to multi-functional collaborative robots. It also conveys the surrounding situation so that the robot can move autonomously.

SK Telecom jointly developed this robot with automotive parts specialist Schaeffler, optical equipment manufacturer Cmes, and automation software provider Ensquare. It is scheduled for commercialization at Schaeffler's Ansan plant in the first quarter of 2019.

The "5G Smart Flexible Production Facility (Smart Base Block)" is a solution that allows production lines to be built like building blocks. Each module, measuring 1.5 meters wide, 1 meter long, and 2 meters high, is equipped with robotic arms for parts manufacturing. Three to ten modules, each responsible for production, inspection, and packaging, are assembled to form a single product production line.

If you need new features for your production line, you can add modules; if you want to reduce process time, you can remove modules.

5G is used to wirelessly connect each module's automation components (sensors, controllers, robotic arms, etc.). Big data generated by each module is also transmitted to a central computer for analysis of process efficiency.
The "5G Small Autonomous Robot (AMR)" is a small robot designed for collaboration with humans. With four wheels mounted on its bottom, it maneuvers skillfully even in tight spaces. Avoid obstacles on your own through autonomous driving.

The robot's upper body can be customized for various purposes. A small robotic arm can be attached to deliver extensions to workers, while a shield box can be installed to transport important parts to other lines. It can also be modified to serve as a helper, visiting workers and offering them drinks.

5G plays a role in continuously issuing control commands to enable multiple mobile robots to move simultaneously and stably. 5G connectivity offers a wider range of movement and superior stability compared to Wi-Fi.

"AR Smart Glasses" is a service that allows workers to check equipment, parts information, assembly manuals, and more in real time through AR glasses. 5G ensures that AR information is always up-to-date.

"5G-AI Machine Vision" is Korea's first 5G industrial solution. As automotive parts pass along a conveyor belt, a 12-megapixel camera captures 24 photos from various angles and transmits them to a cloud server via 5G. The server's high-performance AI instantly analyzes the photos to check for product defects.

SK Telecom explained that 5G-AI machine vision can increase per-person productivity by up to two times through collaboration with workers. Since the commercialization of 5G, SK Telecom has been discussing the adoption of 5G-AI machine vision with various companies.


5G Increases Factory Design Flexibility and Efficiency
LTE processes transmissions in the same way regardless of the terminal or data type, which limits its ability to provide factory-specific and situation-specific solutions. 5G can adapt network performance to the type of equipment.

For example, for 5G-AI machine vision, which requires fast response times, including large-capacity data transmission and AI cloud servers, the network is set to high-speed data mode. For equipment requiring fast response times, mobile edge computing is installed at nearby 5G base stations to reduce the required data transmission distance.

To ensure collision-free movement of hundreds of autonomous robots, 5G's hyper-connectivity, which reliably connects numerous devices even in confined spaces, will be leveraged. Factories manufacturing defense and semiconductor components will also be equipped with quantum cryptography to enhance network security.

SK Telecom has been proactively developing "network slicing," a 5G-specific technology that optimizes networks for specific types, since 2016. It also plans to commercialize 28GHz ultra-high-speed data transmission technology, mobile edge computing, and quantum cryptography communications in succession.
“The commercialization of 5G has opened up an opportunity for our country to lead the development and construction of smart factories,” said CEO Jang. “We will take the lead in building a new 5G factory ecosystem by collaborating with other ICT companies and factory automation specialists.”