One-stop wireless
Combine Wi-Fi and 4.9G/5G private wireless for
fail-safe operational uptime
Boost operational continuity by combining the power of your networks
Maximizing productivity, efficiency and safety is at the heart of Industry 4.0 digitalization, whether you operate a manufacturing plant, a port terminal, a mine or any other industrial site. But the innovative, emerging use cases being deployed to improve operational performance - from remote-controlled machine operations to life-critical worker safety applications - bring with them significantly increased demands on the underlying network infrastructure. Without the right industrial connectivity foundation in place, what starts out with an ambition to improve operational performance ends with frequent delays, disruption and downtime.
The answer to delivering the continuous, fail-safe operations you need is to create a solid connectivity foundation that can cater to your diverse and changing connectivity needs. Both Wi-Fi and 4.9G/5G private wireless networks have an important role to play with capabilities that neatly complement each other to reliably support both IT and OT applications. By combining the considerable capacity benefits of Wi-Fi and the mission-critical capabilities of private wireless into a single wireless connectivity system, you can use the best attributes of both technologies to achieve powerful multi-layer connectivity - so applications with even the most extreme requirements perform at their expected thresholds. Now you’re on the path to frictionless operations and a successful Industry 4.0 transformation capable of bringing meaningful value to your business.
Get a free Wi-Fi subscription with Nokia one digital platform
Our purpose is to help you achieve your Industry 4.0 ambition and we believe our one platform for industrial digitalization is a key driver to get you where you want to go faster. In fact, we believe so unwaveringly in the value of our one platform and the combined power of Wi-Fi and private wireless it enables, that we are giving a Wi-Fi 6/6E subscription away for free. Click the button below for the full offer details and conditions.
What problems are caused by poor industrial connectivity?
Poor industrial connectivity can lead to a series of challenges, leaving your operation vulnerable to everything from unreliable machine control and patchy IT services to systemic operational disruption and endangered worker safety. These challenges are especially prevalent in complex manufacturing, port terminal and mining operations where insufficient network capabilities can threaten the reliable operation of heavy industrial machinery or worker safety applications.
Nearly US $1.5 trillion
The cost of unplanned downtime to Fortune Global 500 companies, equating to 11% of their yearly turnover.
5.7 million
How many non-fatal incidents happened in the EU and the USA in 2021 alone. Industrial sites have the highest share of non-fatal accidents at 31.2%.
Only 20%
The percentage of industrial enterprises that believe Wi-Fi or public cellular networks are sufficient for their requirements.
Sources: 1) Siemens, 2) Eurostat, National Safety Council 3) GlobalData
Disrupted machine and vehicle operations leading to unplanned downtime
Without adequate capacity, reliability, latency and mobility, seamless, planned operations become impossible. Even if your network does meet use case requirements, but quality degrades or the network fails entirely, mission-critical systems can come to a standstill with no 'safety net' fallback network in place to support them.
Risk to worker health and safety
In life-critical situations, there’s zero margin for error. When every millisecond counts, life-critical safety data has to travel in real-time to trigger instant machine shutdown or dispatch a timely emergency response.
Poor-performing IT services and non-critical OT applications
Legacy Wi-Fi networks increasingly can't keep up with the demands of the digital-era enterprise. That leaves operations vulnerable to challenges from patchy video streaming quality and delayed team communications as well as interruptions to mobile working and unreliable site security.
The impacts for your business can be severe:
- Interrupted processes and workflows
- Unnecessary operational delays
- Unplanned downtime leading to poor productivity and customer experience
- Reduced efficiency
- A higher risk of worker safety incidents
- Hampered digitalization efforts and prolonged manual workflows
How to meet your evolving use case requirements
Digitalization increasingly permeates every part of an organization, meaning that network requirements are equally ramping up for both IT and OT use cases. Where previously the legacy Wi-Fi network across your factory complex, port terminal, mining site or other industrial operation may have been able to reliably support non-critical applications, now you’re likely to need to upgrade to the higher-performing standard Wi-Fi 6/6E. Industrial enterprises also increasingly have more extreme use case requirements that demand the dramatically boosted network performance that only a combination of Wi-Fi and private wireless networks can deliver. Putting the right connectivity foundation in place is the only way to ensure your operations are seamless, productive and safe - no matter how the requirements placed on them evolve.
Combine Wi-Fi and private wireless for improved machine control, safety and uptime
The diagram below shows how a robust, secure and high-performance connectivity foundation can solve a series of challenges and improve operational uptime for better productivity, efficiency and safety.
What role does Wi-Fi play in industrial operations?
Wi-Fi plays an important role in industrial operations and is often deeply embedded into an enterprise's infrastructure. And with the latest technology standard, Wi-Fi 6/6E, enterprises benefit from significant performance improvements. That makes it a solid foundation for your IT services and non-critical OT applications from employee communications and asset tracking to content distribution for deskless workers - helping you deliver seamless operations and improved productivity and efficiency.
What is Wi-Fi 6/6E?
Wi-Fi 6 is the latest Wi-Fi technology standard, providing considerable improvements over previous iterations such as Wi-Fi 5. Its significantly higher capacity, security, speed and scalability make it a suitable connectivity choice for industrial enterprises looking to power their IT and non-critical OT applications.
Wi-Fi 6E is an extension to the standard Wi-Fi 6. The difference between Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E is that the latter uses additional dedicated spectrum capacity that can't be accessed by other Wi-Fi standards. As a result, Wi-Fi 6E offers capacity, latency and reliability improvements for any connected devices and applications.
How does 4.9G/5G private wireless complement Wi-Fi?
Mission-critical 4.9G/5G private wireless uniquely complements your Wi-Fi network by helping you support the more extreme connectivity requirements that new Industry 4.0 use cases place on your network. Wi-Fi has high spectrum bandwidth availability and, under the right conditions, provides significant data capacity advantages. However, the technology does have some inherent limitations that make it inappropriate for critical applications, such as a susceptibility to interference and performance drops with increasing numbers of connected devices and machines. This is where private wireless steps up. 4.9G/5G offers considerably better coverage, reliability, mobility and stable latency to your operation, with predictable performance and a high Quality of Service (QoS).
Combining these networks together creates a powerful industrial multi-layer connectivity solution that lets you benefit from the best of both technologies: the mission-critical capabilities of private wireless, and the extra capacity boost of Wi-Fi.
Private wireless is and will remain the solution of choice for business- and mission-critical OT use cases. But industrial enterprises still need to cater to a large variety of both OT and IT use cases, so there is need for both connectivity technologies. Wi-Fi and private wireless will harmoniously co-exist and complement each other, delivering seamless performance and improved productivity, efficiency and worker safety across your operation.
What are the benefits of industrial multi-layer connectivity?
Industrial multi-layer connectivity brings significant benefits to your operation. Combining different technologies – including legacy Wi-Fi – into a single, powerful, optimized wireless system means you always have the right connectivity solution in place. You enjoy pervasive coverage across your connected operation with all the capacity, reliability, latency and mobility you need to keep your systems up and running, non-stop. Crucially, you can also optimize network performance for different use-case needs:
Exponential capacity
Say goodbye to sketchy and unstable video-based operations: increased data capacity supports extremely resource-hungry applications such as video-assisted and remote-controlled machine operations.
Improve video-based machine operations with Nokia MX Boost
Ultra-high reliability
Seamless mobility
Say goodbye to sketchy and unstable video-based operations: increased data capacity supports extremely resource-hungry applications such as video-assisted and remote-controlled machine operations.
Improve video-based machine operations with Nokia MX Boost
Improved reliability and latency are ideal for life-critical safety use cases such as machine perimeter fencing and worker biometrics, as well as keeping your remote-controlled and autonomous machines up and running.
Smooth network handovers increase application uptime for everything from autonomous vehicles to remote-controlled machines and tools, with the assurance of uninterrupted communication.
Keep machines connected over different coverage areas with Nokia MX Boost
Multi-layer connectivity also gives you a one-stop wireless approach that lets you cater to today’s Industry 4.0 use case connectivity needs and meet those coming down the line. The benefits to your business are significant:
- Ensure business continuity and seamless operations
- Increase productivity and efficiency
- Revolutionize life-critical worker safety
- Maximize the value and investment of your Industry 4.0 deployment
- Lay the foundation for future Industry 4.0 use cases
One-stop wireless: Meet all your connectivity needs in one
Our experts can help you achieve your digitalization ambitions and get the most from your Industry 4.0 investment by identifying and deploying the right connectivity solution for every one of your changing use case and operational needs. That could include upgrading your legacy Wi-Fi to benefit from the newest generation on the market with Nokia DAC Wi-Fi 6/6E. Our 4.9G/5G private wireless solution also provides robust, flexible and pervasive connectivity for your business- and mission-critical OT applications. Or you may have extreme connectivity requirements that demand the combination of both networking technologies – with MX Boost, you get a powerful multi-layer connectivity system that does exactly that and ensures frictionless, future-proof performance across all your IT and OT applications.
Beyond connectivity: Empower Industry 4.0 digitalization
Simplify your journey with the Nokia one digital platform
Our connectivity solutions are only one part of your digital transformation. With the Nokia one digital platform you can build on your connectivity foundation to enable new and advanced Industry 4.0 use cases that take you further, faster. An on-premise edge computing capability ensures high-availability, low-latency performance and high data security and sovereignty. You can also connect into our portfolio of ruggedized devices and a whole catalogue of ecosystem-neutral applications to simplify deployment and speed time to market.
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Explore one-stop wireless for non-stop, fail-safe operations.
Combine the power of your networks to boost Industry 4.0 digitalization
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