How can private LTE networks help the industry?

Industries must adapt to market changes and respond to customer demands. This involves transforming the way they work and optimizing their operations in real-time.

Private LTE networks become a key ally, enabling industries to stay hyperconnected and ensure the real-time operation of their processes.

The case of Nokia’s factory in Oulu (Finland)

This plant manufactures and designs various telecommunications products (such as base stations), which, once optimized, can be transferred and scaled to other production facilities around the world.

Changes in the factory layout are constant, and flexibility is essential.

The problem

Traditionally, the plant has managed telecommunications for machines and devices through Ethernet cables.

However, as the production plant transforms, so do the requirements for cables, which adds significant costs in rewiring work. Thus, automating more processes became a key goal, both in production and in supplying materials to the machines.

To automate material transport, an autonomous intelligent vehicle (AIV) was introduced, which delivers materials from the warehouse to the production line without human interaction. Initially, the AIV was connected to a Wi-Fi network that covered the storage and production areas.

However, when the AIV began to be used daily, it soon became evident that the network coverage was insufficient for the route it traveled, and connectivity was lost during handoffs between one access point and the next.

The AIV travels long distances within the factory, including passing between metal storage racks that interfere with connectivity. When it loses connection, the AIV stops for safety reasons, as it loses its relative position within the plant. This halts material feeding to the production line and disrupts the activity of the staff.

The contribution of the private LTE network.

A private wireless network (4.9G/LTE) was implemented, ensuring secure and stable connectivity for all assets inside and outside the factory, regardless of the area.

In this way, the AIV can be used outside of the fixed Wi-Fi coverage: it can perform functions anywhere within the plant. There is no longer a need to reconfigure the network when the equipment moves to other areas, and connection interruptions are eliminated.

Additionally, thanks to the increased network capacity, the plant is also considering a fleet of connected AIVs to perform various tasks.

You can learn more about this case here.