Customised private networks improve productivity, enhance quality, supply data to business development and increase occupational safety. Private networks are company networks implemented with 4G or 5G technology.

Why do companies decide to build private networks?

“The aim is to use digitalisation to make production more efficient, e.g. by shortening turnaround times. This often means increasing automation and the number of robots. Private networks are the right solution for data transmission between these devices”,

says Henri Viljasjärvi, Director, Business Development at Digita. He has 25 years of experience in digital network development activities, the last three years of which he has been heading the development of Digita’s private networks.

A lot has been accomplished in three years.

“We have implemented private networks for a wide range of environments, mines, industrial facilities and product development applications”, Viljasjärvi says.

Industrial digitalisation is happening now

The private networks implemented by Digita enable the versatile digitalisation of operations for customer companies. This is currently happening in industry, logistics, primary production and other physical sectors of the economy in the same way as it did, for example, in the financial sector decades ago.

“Modern wireless communications implemented with private networks enable the efficient use of technologies related to Industry 4.0, such as machine learning and edge computing. This will boost productivity, improve quality and increase production flexibility now that we are ready for the digital leap.”

Improved occupational safety is a significant advantage of the digitalisation made possible by private networks. Where previously mining machines were controlled by a person either from the cab or by remote control, today they are increasingly autonomous, with their operation monitored from the mine’s central control room.

Better business with data

Private networks allow business to be managed with the help of data. Data can be obtained from production more easily and quickly, and even from more places. The situation is analysed from this huge mass of data.

Production is controlled in real time to match business goals.

“Transparency and up-to-date management of resources and material flows mean that we can optimise raw materials, energy consumption and employee productivity.”
Safety can be improved, for example, with an application that combines artificial intelligence, machine learning and camera recognition, which monitors in real time that there are no people without a helmet in production.

If a deficiency is detected, an alarm is issued immediately

Unmatched technology ensures data connections

4G and 5G private networks represent a considerable improvement in wireless data transmission. The use of public cellular networks and Wi-Fi has been problematic in many ways. In a public network, capacity always has to be shared, in which case, for example, a sudden increase in terminal devices in the area of the single base station reduces the capacity received by each device.

This may slow down and disrupt business-critical data traffic between the company’s production machines and devices.

Building a comprehensive Wi-Fi network in an industrial environment is often difficult due to, for example, heavy concrete and steel structures or high storage shelves. There is no mobility, i.e. moving from one base station to another interrupts the data transmission.

“A private network is truly mobile and secure. The network administrator decides on its capacity and coverage area. With this kind of a platform in place, it is possible to ensure the capacity and delay requirement needed by an autonomous vehicle, for example”, Viljasjärvi says.

Even though 5G technology is the latest and best when building private networks, 4G is still suitable for many needs. 4G is a proven and reliable technology, the availability of devices is good and the solutions are cost-effective. When you want all the new features of private networks, 5G offers them as well as the way into the future.

The best information security

The information security of private networks is on a completely different level than that of other networks, as they are, as the name implies, private, meaning that they are built on the customer’s premises and are part of the customer’s internal network. A private network can also be made to be completely separate, i.e. so that it does not have any connections to the outside world, but works without a galvanic connection to the Internet or the public cellular network.

“Information security is on a completely different level compared to Wi-Fi, for example. Each terminal device has a SIM card, and only devices that are authorised to do so can access the network.”

Private networks have their own licenced frequency ranges. Each customer is provided with a frequency range reserved for them in their own area. This ensures that there will be no interference from other networks or users. A private network solution is never an off-the-shelf item, but a package carefully tailored to the customer’s needs. For this reason, an expert in radio technology and the needs of different branches of industry like Digita must be involved in the design and implementation. Understanding the applications and needs of customers is very important.

“We have all the expertise required for the design, building and 24/7 operation of private networks. In an organisation of a couple of hundred people, we can nimbly adapt what we do to the needs of each customer”, Viljasjärvi says.

What private network?

5G private networks are revolutionising wireless data transmission in industry. Reliable wireless data transmission is one of the pillars of Industry 4.0 implementations and an enabler of smart factories and smart manufacturing. A private network is a mobile network designed for internal use by companies that utilises 4G/5G technology familiar from public cellular networks. Factories and production facilities, as well as warehouses, for example, often grapple with the problems of Wi-Fi networks and public cellular networks, while the coverage, interference-free operation and seamless mobility of private networks are unparalleled.

Article originally published at promaintlehti.fi on 4 October 2022