Outlook Q4 2021 Smart factory – Connectivity Enhanced Vehicle Production
Executive Summary
Working on EV systems and architectures that are rapidly evolving means that traditional approaches to minimize vehicle production costs may not be appropriate. Low-cost sources of power in addition to availability of workforces with appropriate skills can mean moving factories from traditional regions to new greenfield shovel ready locations.
The opportunity to combine greenfield sites with the promise of 4G/5G private networks to deliver sustainable, flexible and cost-effective manufacturing is high on the priority list of many OEMs. Especially since great connectivity is an essential capability to exploit the benefits of AI, robotics, AR, cloud computing, digital twinning, 3D printing and automation.
Against this background we conducted a connectivity survey in the first half of 2021 to understand how the industry was approaching factory connectivity, what is important and who was influencing the direction. The presentation by Steve Bell, Principal Analyst – Connectivity, Wards Intelligence will address some of the results from an upcoming report.