Potential applications of 5G communication technologies in collaborative intelligent manufacturing

Nowadays most of the communication technologies used in the manufacturing industry are still wired, including various fieldbuses and dedicated industrial Ethernet technologies, though wireless communication technologies including WiFi and ZigBee are recently being adopted. This study is to investigate the integration of 5G wireless communication technologies with collaborative intelligent manufacturing (CIM) processes and systems. 5G technologies and typical scenarios including enhanced mobile broadband, massive machine type communications, and ultra‐reliable low latency communication are introduced. Various possible applications or business slices of 5G in CIM are analysed, including human–machine interfaces and production IT, process automation, factory automation, logistics and warehousing, monitoring, and maintenance. These applications are analysed by the functions as modules with the extended 5C architecture. A modular collaborative production approach is suggested to combine modules to achieve on‐demand resource allocation and complete flexible tasks in CIM systems. Related research challenges and opportunities are also discussed.