Proximus NXT and FacThory: smart production with 5G Private Network

FacThory is located in Thor ParkOpens a new window , a business, technology, education, and science park situated on the grounds of the former Waterschei coal mine. “Thanks to our unique community and facilities, we offer support for the development of smart, sustainable, circular, and connected innovations,” Filip Vercauteren, general manager at Thor Park, says. “The focus is on the energy transition, smart city applications, and the smart manufacturing industry.”

Small-scale testing

Support for the manufacturing industry is needed as the sector faces major challenges. “It is typical for a manufacturing company that innovation requires large capital investments, for example in production. Adapting or replacing older machines costs considerable amounts of money,” Samir El Makrini, Sales Director at Proximus NXT, says. “But at the same time, the return on investment is by no means certain.” That makes testing, such as the use of a robot, on a smaller scale important, but it is often difficult to do so in the existing environment.

Transition to Industry 4.0

This is where Thor Park and Proximus NXT come into play. Ideas can be developed in Thor Park's incubator, aptly named IncubaThorOpens a new window . There you can find FacThoryOpens a new window for detailed testing of ideas thanks to a campus with offices, technical labs, and production areas, equipped with state-of-the-art research infrastructure for start-ups and scale-ups or companies that want to test new production processes, focused on the transition to Industry 4.0. The initiative by Thor Park and Proximus NXT arose from the federal government's ‘SMART’ (Smart Manufacturing Augmented by Reliable 5G Technology) call for projects for 5G pilot projects.

Generate, capture, interpret

FacThory primarily presents itself as an ecosystem where those active in the manufacturing industry, both start-ups and experienced companies, can work on innovation through co-creation with a variety of partners. SirrisOpens a new window is responding to this too. The research center moved its industrial lab and test space from Diepenbeek to Thor Park. “Companies can use our facilities to test a concrete proof-of-concept,” Peter ten Haaf, manager of Smart & Digital Factory at Sirris, says.

Digitalization is an important pillar for manufacturing companies undergoing the transformation to Industry 4.0. “Generating, capturing, and interpreting data and then linking actions to it, such as analysis with AI, that's what it's all about,” Peter explains. “But always with a concrete end goal in mind, such as cost reduction, higher product quality, shorter delivery times, better delivery reliability, you name it.”

Response to labor shortages

But focusing on digitalization is not always an obvious choice. “The investment cycles in the manufacturing industry are long,” Samir explains. “This means that companies often work with a combination of old and new technology.” In addition, there is a general shortage of technological expertise in the market. IT profiles that master both IT and OT are particularly rare.

“Especially in the field of cybersecurity,” Samir continues. Digitalization within Industry 4.0 is largely focused on co-creation, which requires smooth collaboration between systems and secure data sharing. “The factory environment is no longer hermetically sealed off from the outside world and that makes cybersecurityOpens a new window the top priority.”

5G Private Network: speed, capacity, and reliability

High-performance and secure connectivity are an essential part of digitalization and Industry 4.0. Proximus NXT provides FacThory with various solutions for this purpose. “We have rolled out a 5G Private Network,” Jurgen De Klerck, Solution Sales 5G at Proximus NXT, says. “The 5G network ensures that all data remains on site and the data does not come into contact with the public network.”

The great advantage of 5GOpens a new window is its high speed, capacity, and reliability, which is important in the context of machines that are controlled almost in real time. “An additional advantage of 5G is the possibility of working with network slicing,” Jurgen continues. “In a factory, there are usually two separate networks: an IT network for office applications and an OT network for controlling the machines.”

Thanks to 5G, that dual management is a thing of the past. “5G lets you use different slices of the network simultaneously and, at the same time, they remain strictly separated from each other,” Jurgen explains. “At FacThory, we have also installed a security platform from FortinetOpens a new window , which not only secures the entire network, but also extends this security to the application level.”

Samir El Makrini, Sales Director at Proximus NXT

Numerous applications with 5G connectivity

At FacThory, companies can discover exactly how this works in practice. “The digitalization of a production site is not exactly straightforward,” Samir says. There is certainly no shortage of applications. Think of mobile cameras for monitoring a laser machine and quality control on a production line via video analysis. But the use of 5G connectivity is just as suitable for robotized order picking, access control via cameras, fire detection, automatic stock control with drones, replacing DECT phones, and so on. “At FacThory, we show what is possible. Our entire range is available and you can test all possibilities.”

Hybrid connectivity

Does this mean that every application in FacThory is by definition based on 5G? “Certainly not,” Jurgen says. “We offer a hybrid environment, with WiFi 6 and the option of connecting to the public 5G network in addition to the private 5G network. 5G and WiFi each have their advantages. The great thing about the setup at FacThory is that we allow 5G and WiFi to work together optimally.”

What's more, the combination of 5G and WiFi provides greater security thanks to the use of EAP-SIM (Extensible Authentication Protocol-SIM), an authentication protocol for WiFi and mobile networks. Authentication for the Wi-Fi network is linked to the 5G MPN, creating a single, unified network consisting of both 5G and Wi-Fi. “This means you only need to install 5G antennas where you really need them,” Jurgen explains, “while Wi-Fi is sufficient in other locations. But nor are they two separate networks; they form a single entity.”

Evolution

Will 5G revolutionize the manufacturing industry? “I don't like big words like that,” Jurgen says with a laugh. “It's a continuous evolution.” The best way to see the results is now and then to reflect.

“Did 4G cause a revolution? Not really. But ask the banking sector the same question and you'll get a completely different answer. If you look back there, you'll see that 4G, thanks to the mobile app, has replaced the traditional bank branch. The same will happen with manufacturing and 5G, by gradually implementing new possibilities. You can already test what those are for yourself in Genk today.”