annual industrial revolution

HANNOVER MESSE
for Visionaries
2nd Annual
2 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: THE TOP TRENDS AND TAKEAWAYS FROM HANNOVER MESSE 2019 • 11 BRIEF READS FOR VISIONARIESwww.abiresearch.com
Letter From our Chief Research Officer
Dear visionaries,
Hannover Messe 2019 proved insightful in many ways. There is no doubt that the industrial, supply chain, and energy environment is
facing significant global headwinds. Trade wars, political change, and global market mechanics are placing pressure on company
outlooks. The interesting takeaway from this is that companies are not hunkering down but are aggressively pursuing technology as an
avenue to increase productivity and drive profit margins. Some of the key observations from ABI Research, which had 10 analysts on-site
at the conference, include:
1) The appetite to connect hardware is growing. Many in the technology provider market look to more advanced concepts
of predictive and prescriptive analytics and the employment of AI (Artificial Intelligence). However, the majority of the
marketplace is really just focused on connecting assets and trying to get data off them. The tech provider world needs
to assume less and listen more.
2) In 2018 wireless was somewhat of a “dirty word.” It was abundantly clear new forms of wireless connectivity, including
LTE and 5G, were taking the lion’s share of commercial interest. Wi-Fi was largely viewed as an uncomfortable necessity
that was being used despite its flaws.
3) The need for digital transformation is not just in the realm of the large organization. There was a growing focus on the
sub-1,500 employee company and enabling those firms to benefit from connectivity and increased data analysis.
4) There was a distinct feeling the automotive vertical is leading the push toward digital transformation. It is only natural
given this segment is by far the most advanced in terms of automation. Other lighthouse segments included food and
beverage, electronics and pharmaceuticals. There was inconsistent feedback that process industries were proving to be a
little more conservative in terms of their embrace of digitization. Finally, it is worth noting there is significant trickle down of
implementation. As the auto industry starts implementing, the tier 1 and 2 providers are forced into adopting the same digital
platforms and then that snowballs throughout the value chain. The automotive digital transformation catalyst could stretch
very far into adjacent markets.
5) The technology solutions that held the most attention included 5G, AI, IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things), AR (Augmented
Reality), Digital Twins, Data Analytics, Autonomous Materials Handling, Cobots, Exoskeletons, Generative Design, Addi-
tive Manufacturing, and Blockchain. However, it is worth considering a lot of the applications being muted are not at the
most aggressive end of the scale but are really focused on building momentum and getting the process started. The
digital transformation of industries will take decades, and it needs to be managed considerately.
6) A passionate debate at the show was the continued conundrum of edge or cloud for data management and execution of
decision functions and data storage. Last year it was much a case of cloud being a big “no-no” for mission-critical data, but
that is beginning to change. We are seeing vendors change tack and begin to adopt blended approaches with some on-prem
edge capability and some cloud capability that allows for the best of both worlds. At the same time, market education around
the benefits of cloud is beginning to bear fruit.
7) There are some very powerful commercially driven partner ecosystems emerging that look set to shape the market of the
future. Notable partnerships include PTC/Rockwell/Microsoft, ABB/Dassault Systèmes, and Siemens/SAS.
8) A last observation at the show is in relation to telcos. They are going to be a follower in this market unless they radically
change their approach. The commercial partnerships outlined in the previous point will dictate when and how they will en-
gage with the market unless they become a viable partner in that ecosystem and show a more market-aligned approach to
solving problems. Their current suppliers, such as Ericsson and Nokia, look ready to serve these markets and needs from a
cellular perspective and as main points of contact. Those suppliers also will take advantage of new global spectrum licensing
regimes to supplant telcos as the trusted connectivity partner.
In summary, Hannover Messe 2019 will be viewed as the inflection point in industrial digital transformation. There is a perfect storm of
need, appetite, capability, fear, and greed that will drive this market aggressively. One last note of caution is the rate of technological
progress is fast outpacing the ability of most companies to understand, deploy, and maximize new technology solutions in terms of
operational benefits. This modern skills gap will only get wider. Technology providers need to simplify and take complexity out of
solutions, while the technology implementers need to be aggressive and smart in how they identify, manage, and scope digital
transformation activities. At the same time, the implementers need to target non-traditional domains for skill acquisition and to staff
projects appropriately.
Stuart Carlaw
Chief Research Officer ABI Research
5G IN INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS From Hannover Messe 2018 to Hannover Messe 2019, wireless went from a dirty word to a hot topic, at least among technology
vendors. Siemens spent significant time at its Monday press conference discussing the role of 5G. Ericsson promoted its new
Industry Connect product and announced a partnership with ABB. The fairgrounds even featured a 5G Arena with presentations
from Bosch Rexroth, Ericsson, Festo, Nokia, Qualcomm, Siemens, and others. Of these companies, Ericsson has shown the most
progress productizing cellular for factories with Industry Connect, but all these vendors continue to look for the scalable business
cases that will drive widespread demand for private LTE and 5G.
The 5G technology demonstrations at Hannover Messe were far from what is considered typical in the telecoms domain. In fact,
almost all exhibitors were discussing different use cases for 5G. Some examples included:
1. Many companies were trialing 5G as a faster pipe to transfer video feeds from around the factory floor or transfer industrial
Ethernet over 5G. These use cases utilize the eMBB version of 5G, which is already standardized and ready for deployment.
2. Several AGV (automated guided vehicle) manufacturers are currently using 4G for telemetry but are interested in 5G for
remote operation. They claim the deterministic networking feature of 5G (3GPP URLLC in Release 16) will allow them to
remote control their AGVs.
3. Several exhibitors also expect 5G to simplify the communications landscape on the factory floor, as it may take as many as
seven different technologies for data to traverse from the sensor to the cloud. These exhibitors also hope deterministic 5G
networking will replace proprietary field bus technologies since these will theoretically no longer be required.
A common trend across all these use cases was the lack of commonalities between them. In fact, most companies exhibiting in
the 5G Arena were interested and testing different functionality of 5G, one that addressed their requirements specifically. This is in
stark contrast to the telecoms domain, where cost efficiency and market inertia is built through economies of scale and a few large
use cases.
On one end, MSPs (mobile service providers) and the telecoms technology supply chain operate on a “build it and they will come”
model. They have been building networks without knowing what services would eventually be running on them, predominantly for
the consumer market. On the other hand, the industrial sector requires tailor-made solutions that will not necessarily allow MSPs
and technology suppliers to create the necessary economies of scale they have been accustomed to. For example, some industrial
clients may need stationary 5G connections for cameras, some may need outdoor campus 5G networks for AGVs, while some oth-
ers will need deterministic networking features for machinery.
Despite these restrictions, industrial OT (operational technology) suppliers were adapting Qualcomm’s 5G modems and Nokia’s
network to solve their problems, rather than wait for the telecoms technology supply chain to finalize the standard and then prepare
“industrial-grade” 5G products. In a way, industrial companies are innovating for 5G now, long before the telecoms market itself.
The telecoms market must get serious about the industrial domain immediately and start speaking the language of manufacturers.
Otherwise, they will be at a risk of being disintermediated in one of the most promising end markets.
Unfortunately, the MNOs (mobile network operators) and most telecommunications solution providers lack alignment with the
industrial sector and factory owners. On a panel moderated by ABI Research at Hannover Messe, representatives from Tata Com-
munications and Vodafone admitted as much, stating that while they see some excitement about NB-IoT (narrowband Internet of
Things), private LTE and 5G, they do not yet have the necessary ecosystem relationships to make the most of the opportunity. If this
holds up, MNOs will see their roles minimized to spectrum providers at best, assuming they hold onto ownership of the spectrum.
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING IN INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS Additive manufacturing (AM) and the availability of production AM platforms must be considered in developing an Industry 4.0
strategy. By 2030, the number of production-ready additive manufacturing platforms that ship each year will increase more than
tenfold (more than US$325 billion in hardware and related systems revenue). These systems will produce more than US$360 billion
worth of parts and end products each year (up from US$6.8 billion today) and nearly US$2 trillion in sum by the end of the next
decade. A lot of this growth will come as the result of technology advances in production systems, particularly those that deal with
metals (rather than polymers), as we saw at IMTS 2018. It’s for these reasons the number of notable absences at Hannover Messe
was somewhat of a surprise: Desktop Metal, EOS, ExOne, GE Additive, and Renishaw, for example. On one hand this speaks to
the market’s maturity; on the other, it indicates the realities of shipping heavy machinery for a show versus R&D and production at
a time when time-to-market is on the line.
In terms of who was there, HP was hiding an early version of its Metal Jet machine around the corner from the main attraction:
polymers. It also confirmed that beta versions of its metal production system wouldn’t be in circulation until the end of 2020, with
more general availability in 2021. This leaves a lot of room for companies like Desktop Metal, ExOne, and even GE Additive to come
to market with comparable if not superior products beforehand. 3D Systems and Stratasys didn’t have much to say either. The
two companies, while understandably ahead of newer entrants Markforged and Formlabs (which announced the forthcoming
availability of its Form 3 and Form 3L SLA systems at the conference) in terms of infrastructure and support, remain largely reliant
on their install base of legacy customers. This was evident in the regionally focused teams sent from the respective companies.
For the manufacturing organization, AM means a different way to produce, minimize waste, and manage cost; for designers and
engineers, it’s the freedom to rethink performance without traditional constraints of manufacturability; for the supply chain, it’s
shortened lead times and fewer moving parts. Regardless of where you fit in the production chain, AM can and will ultimately impact
your business.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS Traditional industrial players launch AI products and services in stark challenge to technology firms that have previously dominated
the AI space. Companies such as HARTING, Weidemueller, ZF Group, SEW-EURODRIVE, and Konica Minolta have all emerged
with AI platforms for the industrial market. These companies’ core product lines are grounded in the industrial space; they’re fo-
cused only on building solutions industrial manufacturing companies are prepared to implement. Consequently, their shift toward
AI indicates industrial companies are showing a considerable appetite to mature and embrace AI technology. Weidemueller dem-
onstrated an industrial analytics platform that uses Machine Learning to support industrial automation. HARTING, a major vendor of
industrial cables, has launched an IoT gateway called MICA, which provides connectivity and Machine Learning inference at the edge.
ZF Group is working with Nvidia to develop an edge computer platform called ZF ProAI for vehicle automation. SEW-EURODRIVE
is one of the first companies in the world to adopt a system of collaborative robotics on its factory floor in Baden-Württemberg,
Germany. Konica Minolta has launched an AI platform for image, sound and data analytics for industrial automation, predictive
maintenance, and quality control.
AI has a problem of scalability in the industrial market. CraftWorks, a software house that builds custom AI solutions for industrial
clients, has found that scalable solutions and applications are tough to come by in relation to AI in the industrial space. AI solutions
are ordinarily deployed as custom implementations and tailored to a specific application and customer. It is challenging to train
general models that will translate between different clients. Clients are often also part of the problem because they don’t want their
data or contribute to products that can be used by competitors. Consequently, companies are focusing on developing AI platform
engines; industrial clients then can build their own models rather than rely on specific AI solutions.
5G in Industrial Applications Continued
ABB demonstrated an impressive robotics and AI system for crane movement automation. ABB has developed a virtual environ-
ment in which digital twins can be deployed. Reinforcement-learning-based software can also be deployed in the same virtual en-
vironment as the digital twins, and it can then be trained to control said digital twins. The demonstration used ABB’s collaborative
robot platform Yumi to control a virtual EOT (electronic overhead traveling) crane. The reinforcement learning software controlling
Yumi translated the movement of the human operator to make sure the crane’s cargo remained controlled while moving. The virtual
environment software libraries and accompanying reinforcement learning toolsets have taken ABB eight years to develop and hold
incredibly impressive potential for control automation and machine autonomy. ABB hasn’t launched this software system publicly
to customers but says it has deployed the technology in the field in some of its crane systems.
AUGMENTED REALITY IN INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS Augmented Reality has been in a rut since its inception. Companies like DAQRI, Google, Microsoft, ODG, and Vuzix know this
on the hardware side, since that has been the primary focus of the market’s innovation (needs). All of them, with the exception of
DAQRI and Microsoft, which was more there for Azure than HoloLens, did not have a dedicated presence at the conference. Yet
the market continues to talk about a growing number of use cases for the technology. Here, the mismatch is focus: Yes, there are a
growing number of use cases where AR can play, but it is the responsibility of the vendor community to narrow the swim lane. Two
companies at Hannover Messe doing this were RealWear and Upskill. RealWear (hardware) showcased a product uniquely certified
for use in Hazloc environments, such as oil and gas, and Upskill (software) highlighted a GTM (go-to-market) focus on quick-ramp
customers that can scale with the right proof points.
INDUSTRIAL, COLLABORATIVE AND COMMERCIAL ROBOTICS There was a large AGV presence at Hannover Messe, with about a 60/40 ratio between AGV and AMR (autonomous material
handling) providers. But while the AGV companies are reporting thousands of deployments, AMRs are in the tens and twenties.
Current pricing for a limited AMR platform is US$40,000, but this is just for the base platform.
There were many demonstrations of mobile manipulation, including from Bosch, Sesto, Siasun, and others. But when
probed, there was very little evidence this has been integrated into the actual workspace. Mobile manipulation remains far out, as
the transition from AGVs to AMRs is only just beginning.
Speaking to some key IoT players and industrial automation companies, the debate over wired versus wireless factories has to
mature before mobile manipulation and mobile robots moving beyond material handling becomes more mainstream. The vast
majority of providers still want their robotic arms wired, and any mobile manipulation is likely to be auxiliary to the current setup of
fixed industrial robots.
Collaborative robotics continues to be dominated by Universal, which has transitioned from a product supplier to a platform
provider whereby end-effector and software providers can intersect and get their products deployed through a centralized
platform, namely Universal+. Competitors in the collaborative space are struggling to differentiate themselves, and when asked,
there is a common range of points they use to say how they are different:
Seventh axis Ease of use Targeting SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) market Low price point
Artificial Intelligence in Industrial Applications continued
All these traits have been accessible to end users for well over a year and have not done a great deal to dent Universal’s leadership.
The company has sold 31,000 robots and has a 50%-60% market share.
For collaborative robotics to achieve significant growth beyond forecasts, there needs to be a reassessment of the hardware.
Either industrial arms need to become more collaborative, via superior controls or tactile sensing, or collaborative robotics need to
have superior hardware performance in speed, payload, and force sensing. Without these innovations, the concept of collaborative
robotics will remain limited to a few key applications, such as machine tending, assembly, and pick and place.
Exoskeletons gained some serious traction during the past year, with there being four major providers at Hannover Messe: German
Bionic, Skelex, Ottobock and Noonee. German Bionic is building a new IoT platform that incorporates some of the competencies
deployed by smart wearable vendors in the industrial space. This industry remains nascent and is years from establishing the same
interest as collaborative robotics, although by TAM (total addressable market) it is a bigger opportunity.
The robotics companies and industrial providers continue to build strategic relationships with telco providers to bring advanced
wireless capabilities to the manufacturing floor. The biggest example of this is ABB’s partnership with Ericsson. The 5G arena
space was showcasing mission-critical mobile manipulation operations in its demo, with companies like Qualcomm building 5G
into their robot-specific SoC (system on chip) hardware. But beyond the demonstrations, there are no significant deployments to
suggest 5G will become a key enabler for robotics in the next two to three years.
INDUSTRIAL IoT A large number of IoT/ICT players have now developed an established industrial approach and extensive offering with dedicated
divisions and high-level managers in place. Examples include AWS, Telenor, Microsoft, and Cisco. The industrial segment is clearly
maturing, now often being mentioned as a top 3 vertical for many vendors, compared to a secondary focus just a few years ago.
Specialized vendors are also developing dedicated industrial technology suites. For example, Kaspersky was showcasing its cyber
security suite optimized for industrial environments.
While the very presence of so many IoT/ICT (information and communications technology) vendors at Hannover Messe testifies to
the ongoing convergence between the digital and physical sides of the industrial solutions, further work is needed to better align
both sides of the equation:
The layout of the exhibition floor space kept IoT exhibitors neatly separated from the traditional industrial machinery vendors showcasing their air compressor, clamping systems, tooling machines, fluid processing, robotics, and other equipment in separate halls. While this physical separation is partially symbolic, it does show both worlds are still acting alongside rather than in cooperation with each other.
Some IoT players still talk about their solutions in terms of horizontal platform enablers rather than specific use cases and practical implementation scenarios, leaving the challenges industrial players are facing in the hands of their partners rather than getting their own hands dirty by trying to get to the bottom of the problems and issues.
IoT/ICT players were presenting a bewildering juxtaposition of digitalization technologies ranging from 5G and digital twins to IoT
platforms, AR/VR (Augmented and Virtual Reality), cyber security, modelling and virtual-prototyping generative design for additive
manufacturing, AI, and many others. This made for a rather confusing and fragmented mix of technologies and approaches. How
this diverse and fragmented collection of technologies fits together, which practical problems it can solve or which benefits it offers
(cost savings, competitiveness, quality assurance, etc.), was not always articulated very well in the marketing speeches.
This contrasted starkly with the industrial space looking for simple, basic, scalable, interoperable, standardized, and manageable
solutions to solve the issues they are facing today. It also very much represents a dichotomy between what is available today versus
Industrial, Collaborative and Commercial Robotics continued
forward-looking technologies (for example, 2G/3G versus 5G and LPWA: low power wide area). Despite the presence of FIWARE, the
critical need for standardization was not addressed sufficiently, with many vendors still resorting to complex protocol conversion
software solutions.
INTELLIGENT SUPPLY CHAIN While Hannover Messe 2019 demonstrated the maturation of the Industrial IoT ecosystem of infrastructure providers, technology
vendors and systems integrators have changed the conversation with respect to the wider supply chain. Manufacturers are now
more able to focus on high-level transformation initiatives rather than solely on the practicalities of extracting data on the factory
floor. This was shown by vendors as diverse as Deutsche Bahn Systel and Bosch Rexroth talking in very real terms about digital
twins for the supply chain. Modeling and optimizing processes using a virtual, cloud-based replica of connected assets and process-
es in the supply chain is now extending beyond the factory floor to the entire supply chain. Hannover Messe also showed collabora-
tion between supply chain partners is becoming easier and also more attractive thanks again to developments in IIoT. Companies
that can share data collaboratively in real time can dramatically improve success with demand planning and operational efficiency.
Hannover Messe showed that a virtualized digital twin enabling partners to collaborate and share data with partners is the future
of the industrial supply chain planning.
The conference also demonstrated how the truly closed-loop supply chain is here to stay and how smart design and IoT can be
leveraged to make this a reality. The increasing prevalence of connected products, coupled with effective IoT-based manufactur-
ing and PLM (product lifecycle management) platforms showcased by the likes of PTC, means value is created throughout the
entire product lifecycle thanks to predictive maintenance and additional digital products for consumers and end users. These
capabilities provide the opportunity for manufacturers to protect themselves from disruption from more agile and digitally native
startups or cheaper overseas competitors; both threats affect consumer and enterprise markets alike. The rate at which Smart
Manufacturing practices, such as generative design and 3D printing, is clearly filling the missing piece of the closed-loop puzzle.
Outstanding design capabilities from the likes of Autodesk, combined with the impressive capabilities of Additive Manufacturing
on display at the show, mean that IoT product data gathered at the point of use can be fed back into the product design process
while also radically changing the procurement of materials, distribution of production, and the provision of after-sales services and
spare parts.
There was also a clear message from Hannover Messe 2019 that flexibility and scalability are becoming increasingly crucial in
manufacturing and logistics operations, meaning requirements are changing rapidly in warehousing and intralogistics. Universal
Robots and other robotic technology vendors at the show have realized this and urged the importance of minimizing ROI periods
to as low as one year while acknowledging the importance of collaborative automation. The conference showed it simply isn’t a case
of man versus machine but rather man and machine as demonstrated by the growth of exoskeletons and industrial AR on the
show floor. This future outlook is not shared by some of the fixed mechatronic automation vendors that talk about five-year ROI
periods while failing to sufficiently accommodate major fluctuations in throughput demand. In the age of next-day delivery and
infinite customer choice, demand is never a given, and the need to optimize accordingly has never been greater. Automation
vendors that prevent warehouse operators from reacting rapidly to demand fluctuations are asking to be disrupted.
Industrial IoT continued
LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES From an RTLS (Real-Time Location Service) perspective, Hannover Messe demonstrated considerable growing momentum for both
UWB (ultra-wideband) and Bluetooth low-energy solutions, with a significant increase in hardware and platform vendors present
versus last year’s event. Key vendors and emerging startups present at the show included Ubisense, Kinexon, Ubudu, Tracktio,
Thinkinside, Kontakt.io, BlueUp, Square Metrics, and ZIGPOS, among others.
However, what is becoming increasingly clear is that solution providers across the value chain need to collaborate and provide
effective partnerships to provide more intelligent location services for industrial environments. Today, many players are adopting a
heavily verticalized approach covering everything from the hardware right up to the platform and analytics layer. However, this
approach is not always scalable and is often constrained to a single technology, which can be difficult to apply across all use cases.
Instead, what is becoming increasingly apparent is that platform providers need to effectively partner with and support multiple
connectivity, asset tracking, and production monitoring technologies in order to provide a more holistic and valuable integrated
solution to drive greater ROI. Perhaps the most effective demonstration of this at the show came in the form of Ubisense’s Smart-
Space software platform. The platform is technology agnostic and is capable of integrating location and identify information across
a number of different sources across small- to large-scale industrial implementations. The company demonstrated key partnerships
with Bluetooth location provider Quuppa, VLC (visual light communication) provider Signify, and machine vision provider Advanced
Realtime Tracking (ART), in addition to its own UWB solutions, to provide effective tracking of components and equipment across
the plant floor, ensure inspection is completed in the correct area via VLC, and make certain production processes are correctly fol-
lowed using visual-based tracking. The idea is to pick the best hardware solutions, integrate them into a single platform, and be able
to visualize any inconsistencies or errors in the production flow, identify problems, and prevent issues from occurring. This more
effective horizontal integration can provide unique insights, enable scalable RTLS deployments, and provide greater ROI. Alongside
this, there is also a growing acknowledgement among RTLS providers that they need to shift away from messaging around accuracy
and technical viability toward providing solid use cases, business models, and generating significant ROI. More effective integra-
tion of hardware vendors, different technologies, and use cases can help combine to build much more intelligent manufacturing
environments than ever before.
LPWA, NB-IOT, SIGFOX AND LORA IN INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS From an IoT connectivity perspective, 5G took center stage at Hannover Messe 2019. However, there was also the widespread
acceptance that 5G will see a limited role in manufacturing with over 90% of the IIoT (Industrial IoT) use cases being addressed
by existing connectivity technologies. In 2019, there’s also been noticeable maturity in the market with enterprise customers
that were earlier evaluating technologies; they are now more actively engaging with vendors having end-to-end IoT solutions that
they can start implementing today. LPWA network technologies have witnessed early adoption in condition-based monitoring
and asset tracking solutions that use simple, low-cost retrofit sensor devices. For example, Ericsson showcased its smart factory
pilot implementation that used NB-IoT (narrowband Internet of Things) to connect 1,000 retrofit sensor devices to monitor factory
equipment and to track various assets for stock replenishment in Ericsson’s Panda manufacturing plant in Nanjing, China.
Asset tracking for supply chain optimization is the lowest hanging fruit in IIoT benefiting from immediate ROI (return on
investment) through increased visibility to the production process with minimal disruption to existing manufacturing operations.
Incumbent asset-tracking solution vendors that currently serve the market using SRW (short-range wireless)-based solutions to
track factory assets indoors are adding LPWA-based solutions to expand their solution portfolio to provide seamless visibility
both inside and outside the factory. Among LPWAN technologies that are market ready, Sigfox- and LoRa-based asset tracking
solutions are ahead followed by NB-IoT- and LTE-M-based solution.
SMART MANUFACTURING PLATFORMS On the industrial software and Smart Manufacturing platform side, some of the vendors continue to open up to more partners
while others have deepened existing relationships to the point of forming a type of alliance with a more standardized solution. For
instance, Rockwell Automation owns a stake in PTC, which owns Kepware for data ingestion and has a deep partnership with
Microsoft to run on Azure. In PTC’s case, it needs to make sure it stays adaptable to clients’ needs from data ingestion to data
processing and storage and not present an inflexible front with its other stakeholders and partners. On the other hand, Siemens
announced an open partnership with SAS Institute for streaming analytics for an integration with MindSphere. Siemens also does
similar work with Software AG and leverages the Cumulocity IoT platform within MindSphere. Siemens also partners with Telit and
Litmus Automation for IIoT integration and runs on both AWS, Azure and Alibaba in the cloud. Both PTC and Siemens have started
to work on bundling applications into more scalable solutions.
Dassault Systèmes and ABB presented the first joint solutions of their new partnership. They will integrate ABB RobotStudio and
DELMIA to include simulations of ABB robots within DELMIA so clients can better model and simulate how robots will operate on
production lines before physically installing them. The partners also intend to leverage IoT data from their respective platforms to
train AI models to improve the simulation and production planning software. The integration should provide immediate value to
mutual clients planning new production lines, but both partners should stay open to working with others. DELMIA should include
detailed and specific simulations of robots from all vendors, and ABB should look to integrate RobotStudio with other simulation
software products for manufacturing systems.
On a more strategic and transformative level, very little context was provided on how factories will evolve in the future in terms of
the shift from automated to autonomous factories, flexible factory concepts based on modularity and support for reconfiguration of
manufacturing lines, manufacturing as a service, and other transformative business model shifts and how technologies will enable
this. The industrial space urgently needs a long-term vision about where it is heading and against which all efforts and investments
can be referenced. Something akin to the concept of driverless cars for the automotive industry. On a micro level, this translates into
few vendors having a good understanding about their current role and position and where they want to go.
While Hannover Messe is squarely focused on manufacturing adjacent support industries like logistics, (sustainable) energy, smart
cities, transportation, and supply chain were highlighted as well through dedicated events such as the Industrial Supply Forum. It
provided some perspective on the importance of looking beyond manufacturing in terms of optimizing and transforming entire
value chains.
WI-FI, BLUETOOTH AND WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY From a Wireless Connectivity perspective, it is clear 5G is winning the battle for hearts and minds over Wi-Fi in the industrial space.
From the “5G arena” to a growing presence from the likes of Nokia, Ericsson, Huawei, Qualcomm, and others, alongside dem-
onstrations of 5G robotics, AGVs (automated guided vehicles), control units, and other pieces of cellular connected manufacturing
equipment, the momentum for 5G at Hannover Messe is growing quickly and is undoubtedly here to stay. While industrial grade Wi-
Fi solutions for a number of non-mission critical, redundancy, enhanced safety, and other applications are widely utilized today, and
are likely to be in the future, Wi-Fi’s role in manufacturing environments is increasingly being drowned out by the behemoth of 5G
innovation. However, perhaps more concerning is Wi-Fi solution providers are lagging massively behind the cellular industry when
it comes to promoting (and defending) the role of Wi-Fi in industrial environments, which can only be of detriment to the industry.
From a mobility perspective, many of the 5G keynotes and demonstrations at the show highlighted the limitations of Wi-Fi for
moving equipment, such as AGVs, due to challenges with the Wi-Fi handover between different APs (access points). Traditionally,
Wi-Fi-enabled equipment would disconnect the original link with a Wi-Fi access point and establish a new link with a secondary
AP when moving through a facility, resulting in high-packet loss rates and potential disruption to services. However, a number
of industrial Wi-Fi solution providers have addressed this reliability challenge. Huawei, for example, demonstrated its Wi-Fi 6
solutions for industrial applications at the show, and its support for lossless roaming, whereby the client is able to quickly
identify the best AP to roam to, establish a new link, and then disconnect the original link. The result is that no packet loss occurs
when mobile devices, such as AGVs, switch between different AP coverage areas. Siemens was also showcasing its SCALANCE
Industrial Wireless LAN portfolio and iPRP (Industrial Parallel Redundancy Protocol), which allows parallel utilization of two radio
links for mobility applications, including AGVs, trains, cranes, and other moving equipment. Huawei, in another demonstration, high-
lighted how the new higher throughput brought about by Wi-Fi 6 could enable much quicker flashware downloads at the assembly
line for automotive manufacturing, thereby speeding up the production process. It is clear Wi-Fi already has a strong presence in
the industrial space, and there are areas in which it will continue to be utilized. However, it should be of great concern this mes-
sage is being crowded out by one that suggests Wi-Fi can’t do mobility in any form, and the view one would get from attending the
show is that 5G is the wireless technology of choice when it comes to nearly all industrial applications. Though 5G will undoubtedly
bring about a number of enhancements for robotics, automation, mobility, and other mission-critical applications, many industrial
applications will have less stringent latency requirements and can be served by existing wireless standards like Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi, like cellular connectivity, continues to evolve. However, beyond Huawei, there was little impression of what Wi-Fi 6 would
bring to the industrial networking table versus legacy solutions. Nor was there any discussion of how the soon-to-be-available 6GHz
band and upcoming Wi-Fi standards, such as EHT (Extremely High Throughput), could potentially drive down Wi-Fi latency, increase
throughput, and reduce interference and congestion in the crowded 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, and what the implications were
of this for industrial wireless. On a related note, there were no activities around sub-1GHz Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah), which would
be a well-suited IP-based technology for scalable industrial sensor networks, nor on the potential role of 60GHz 802.11ad and
802.11ay for multi-Gbps point-to-point connections for bridging and cable replacement applications. Ultimately, Hannover Messe
2019 should serve as a bit of a wakeup call for industrial Wi-Fi. Solution providers cannot just rest on its legacy and existing deploy-
ments in the industrial space, and there is a strong need to actively promote Wi-Fi industrial solutions, not necessarily as direct
competition, but certainly as something that can be leveraged alongside 5G to help enable safer, more reliable, more flexible, and
more efficient digital manufacturing environments. The 5G Alliance for Connected Industries and Automation is a prime example
of something that is lacking within the Wi-Fi ecosystem, while operators are also doing a much better job than Wi-Fi proponents at
promoting their connectivity solutions for manufacturing environments. Where are the collaborative efforts and testbeds demon-
strating the use cases and ROI (return on investment) benefits of Wi-Fi connected machinery? Where is the Wi-Fi arena? The Wi-Fi
ecosystem must do much more here in self-promoting the capabilities of Wi-Fi technologies within industrial environments. To date,
this has resulted in too much emphasis on what Wi-Fi can’t do, with limited promotion and acknowledgement of what Wi-Fi can do.
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Wireless Connectivity continued
Published April 11, 2019 ©2019 ABI Research
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