5PRING – the consortium behind the UK’s first 5G commercial application accelerator – has announced a new manufacturing-themed accelerator programme. The programme sees leading infrastructure provider BAM Nuttall and aerospace manufacturer AE Aerospace working with 5PRING to set a series of challenges for innovative start-ups and SMEs to solve using 5G.

The programme is part of 5PRING’s ongoing series of challenges to find 5G-enabled solutions to real world problems that will shape the future of the UK’s manufacturing and construction sector. 

A leading UK infrastructure provider, BAM Nuttall will lead the group with AttoCore and Building and Research Establishment (BRE). The consortium is already participating in a government and industry funded trial looking at how 5G can help to improve people’s lives and build back better after the pandemic, called 5G-AMC2 (Accelerate, Maximise and Create for Construction), part of the 5G Testbeds and Trials, 5G Create funding.

Alongside BAM Nuttall, Midland’s SME AE Aerospace will also be working as challenge owners to support innovators to progress 5G solutions. As the first UK SME to deploy a private 5G network with West Midlands 5G (WM5G) Worcestershire 5G (W5G) and technology partner BT, AE Aerospace are well positioned to assist organisations looking to test, scale and apply 5G solutions in manufacturing environments. 

With the government continuing to plan and deliver improvements in UK infrastructure and a public capital investment of over £100bn committed to 2020-21, the sector is well positioned to benefit from the impact that 5G solutions will have on increasing efficiency and optimising processes such as remote working, autonomous surveys and real time reporting.

The 5PRING manufacturing programme will provide start-ups and other small businesses with support in developing and scaling innovations which will harness the power of 5G to create a safe, dynamic and efficient industry, with a specific focus on: 

Plant Operations

• Remote Operation: Operation of equipment and machinery remotely 
• Automatic Visual validation: Validate the end result against a digital design, defect detection and product quality assurance
• Asset tracking: Accurate location tracking of equipment, tools or people on site
• Remote working: Enable workers to work efficiently at a remote site
• Machine Time Servitisation: wireless connectivity between machines to allow for high volume data capture

Site and Factory Monitoring

• Remote Monitoring: Machine monitoring and diagnostics
• Site surveillance: Accurate autonomous surveys of the site
• Site Monitoring: Accurate monitoring of remote/pop-up offices

While these are key areas of exploration, BAM Nuttall, AE Aerospace and the project consortium are open to receiving transformative use cases and innovative solutions in other related areas. This could include leveraging 5G and computer vision to enable live streaming to and from construction sites and digital control rooms to monitor work at the sites, VR/AR in training, use cases around network slicing for different groups of users on site, amongst others. Solutions in IoT, artificial intelligence and robotics will also be considered. 

The 5PRING manufacturing programme offers successful companies access to cutting edge technology via a private 5G network and a tailored acceleration programme, as well as coaching, mentoring and expertise provided by AE Aerospace, BAM Nuttall, Attocore and BRE, as well as the 5PRING consortium members Telefonica UK (O2), Deloitte, Wayra and Digital Catapult. 

“Through this challenge, 5PRING will allow us to identify and test cutting-edge solutions in remote operations, site surveillance and so much more to boost efficiencies while ensuring the safety and efficiency of our working environments. We look forward to supporting organisations on their 5G journey much like our own, sharing best practice and learnings for industry wide adoption,” said Ian Bouquet-Taylor, Operations Director at AE Aerospace.

Last year, WM5G, O2, Deloitte, Digital Catapult and Wayra announced the launch of the UK’s first commercial accelerators – 5PRING – to develop the first region-wide 5G testbed.

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