5G, industrial internet changing production

Factories in China are increasingly going digital, internet-connected and smart, thanks to growing application and integration of 5G and industrial internet technologies, government officials, company executives and experts said.

From using machine vision technologies to automatically inspecting industrial products to employees harnessing 5G to allow remote control of cranes in steel plants hundreds of kilometers away, industrial production is becoming more efficient and safer in reality.

Xiao Yaqing, minister of industry and information technology, said over 1,100 projects that focus on implementing integration of 5G and the industrial internet have been built across China.

China's rapid 5G rollout has laid a sound network infrastructure for better use of the industrial internet, he said. The nation so far has erected more than 700,000 5G base stations, about twice the amount in the rest of the world.

Zhao Houlin, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union, said via video link, China has built the largest commercial 5G network, and the nation's consumer internet and industrial internet have also entered the fast lane, putting China among the leaders in global innovation and development.

The industrial internet refers to the convergence of industrial systems with the power of advanced computing, analytics, sensing and new levels of connectivity.

This is in stark contrast to the often seen image of steelworkers toiling away in mills amid difficult conditions. The typical labor-intensive iron and steel industry is undergoing transformations thanks to the commercialization of 5G and other cutting-edge technologies.

The steel plant also offers a glimpse into how Chinese tech companies are scrambling to partner with a wide range of traditional sectors to promote the industrial use of 5G and unleash the full potential of the most advanced communications technology so far.

Auto manufacturing is also getting upgraded thanks to the use of 5G and the industrial internet. Zhu Yanfeng, chairman of Dongfeng Motor, a major carmaker based in Wuhan, Hubei province, said, "The application of 5G and the industrial internet has helped the company shorten its entire product development cycle from 36 months to 24 months."

Also, technologies make its manufacturing more resilient and better able to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit Wuhan hard early this year, Zhu said.

The combination of the industrial internet and 5G can also make hydropower stations function better. Tingzikou hydropower station in Guangyuan, Sichuan province, has deployed 5G networks from China Mobile with a private industrial internet built for the station.

With the help of 5G networks, an underwater robot can be used to automatically inspect the hydropower station's water volume to ensure safety and efficiency. 

5G-powered aerial drones are also used in dam checks. By integrating artificial intelligence, big data and other cutting-edge technologies, China Mobile has built a high-precision dam surface inspection system that uses autonomous 5G drones, which can map in 3D.

These real-case applications of 5G and the industrial internet showcase the strides China has made in using these technologies. They are partly the result of the central government's push to strengthen local companies' competence in the sector.

The industrial internet is a frontier technology in which countries around the world are scrambling to establish a beachhead. It is an essential part of China's industrial upgrade drive that attempts to boost the marriage between cutting-edge digital technologies and the manufacturing sector.

The State Council－the country's Cabinet－unveiled a guideline in November 2017 that aims to build three to five industrial internet platforms which will reach international standard by 2025 and lead the world in key areas by 2035.

As of May, more than 70 industrial internet platforms with regional or sector-wide influence have emerged in China.

Liu Duo, head of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a government think tank, said a technology or industry must prove it can help companies boost quality and efficiency as well as reduce costs if it wants to be used on a large scale. The industrial internet has already proved its potential in these aspects.

"As China steps up its push to build stand-alone 5G base stations, the industrial internet will see a golden development period," Liu added.