Scheneider Electric, Capgemini and Qualcomm Technologies Announces Collaboration

Scheneider Electric, Capgemini, and Qualcomm Technologies have announced their collaboration on a 5G-enabled automated hoisting solution. Replacing wired connections with wireless and unifying existing wireless connections from Scheneider Electric’s Industrial Automation System, the 5G Private Network solution demonstrates how it can simplify and optimize digital technology deployment at scale across industrial sites.

From avionics and automotive to steel manufacturing and shipping, hoisting applications play a critical role in supply chain and manufacturing operations, where heavy materials and goods are transported over what can be hundreds of meters.

Marc Lafont, Vice President, Innovation and Upstream Marketing, Schneider Electric, said, “Digital transformation is helping Schneider Electric customers generate step-change advancements in productivity, efficiency, and sustainability, but not one company can do it alone, Schneider Electric has always been a proponent of collaboration and the innovation that comes with it. This breakthrough end-to-end 5G private network hoisting solution is a perfect example of the power of working together as we pilot it at end user sites this year. In addition, in the short-term, we will validate more industrial 5G use cases in various discrete manufacturing, hybrid automation, and process automation applications. In the mid-term, we will experiment with deeper integration of 5G technology inside our automation equipment.”

Wireless, automated hoisting that increases productivity, safety, and operational performance but requires fast reaction times, high precision and reliability, 24/7 availability, and both manual and autonomous capabilities. 5G’s native low latency characteristics allow the system to replace fiber cables in remote-control operations, addressing the need to simplify network complexity, reduce wires, and provide long-term reliable connectivity.

Capgemini has worked closely with Schneider Electric to design an optimized end-to-end 5G solution and identify business outcomes on Schneider Electric’s industrial use case. It has also provided the systems integration support based on Qualcomm Technologies latest innovations and assisted Schneider Electric to integrate the 5G network with their use cases, to characterize and optimize the system. Schneider Electric’s expertise in industrial automation combined with Qualcomm Technologies’ heritage in wireless technologies, compute and AI innovations, plus Capgemini’s hands-on experience of network deployment and systems integration intersect to improve performance while eliminating complexities, resulting in faster time to market and improved KPIs for automated hoisting customers.

The 5G private network hoisting solution:

• Replaces wired and other wireless connections for several critical PLC control flows and time sensitive video flows powering numerous use cases

• Operates in 3.8GHz radio frequency band, with an enterprise-grade Athonet core network and Airspan Small Cells using the Qualcomm® FSM™100 5G RAN Platform, significantly improving connectivity performance and enabling new use cases

Beyond its core industrial functions, the Private 5G automated hoisting system can now be leveraged to deliver additional digital use cases, such as augmented operators enabled by XR (eXtended Reality) and wearable devices.