Manufacturing is a crucial sector for technological innovation and efficiency enhancement, and the combination of “5G + Industrial Internet” serves as a key driver for promoting the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry. In recent years, in the manufacturing sector, application scenarios for “5G + Industrial Internet” have continued to expand, significantly accelerating the industry’s digital transformation. As a result, enterprises have seen improved production efficiency and enhanced product quality, injecting new momentum into the industry’s development.
　　What should you do if production equipment breaks down? Operators can put on 5G+AR (augmented reality) glasses, capture live video footage from the site, and then remotely connect with experts to receive real-time guidance. Do you need to manually inspect each product one by one to ensure quality? By installing cameras directly on the equipment, you can instantly detect surface defects and assess assembly quality—with high precision and speed... In the manufacturing sector, with the widespread adoption of “5G + Industrial Internet,” scenarios such as on-site assisted assembly, machine vision-based quality inspection, and intelligent logistics within factory premises are continuously expanding. The resulting benefits for enterprises’ production and manufacturing are becoming increasingly evident, significantly accelerating the industry’s digital transformation.
　　On-site assisted assembly, ensuring precise and efficient product assembly.
　　“Beep, beep…” At the Haier Central Air Conditioning Interconnected Factory in Qingdao, Shandong, an equipment malfunction alarm sounded. Production line supervisor Zhao Lianhui quickly logged into the system, put on 5G+AR glasses, and established a remote connection with a technical expert. “What should I do if the red indicator light keeps flashing?” Zhao Lianhui asked. The technical expert, viewing the video feed captured by the glasses, provided step-by-step voice instructions throughout the process and used AR image overlays to guide Zhao Lianhui in smoothly resolving the issue.
　　“In the past, during the assembly of electronic devices, if a malfunction occurred, we had to contact experts and ask them to come on-site for repairs. This approach was inefficient in terms of communication and came with high labor costs. During this period, equipment downtime meant delays in the assembly schedule,” said Zhao Lianhui. To address this pain point, Haier has introduced a 5G+AR remote collaboration solution. Leveraging the 5G network and its own real-time remote collaboration platform, the solution enables rapid remote diagnosis and troubleshooting of equipment malfunctions as well as virtual guidance for assembly operations—eliminating the need for equipment downtime and making the process both worry-free and highly efficient. “AR production scenarios demand high network bandwidth and low network latency, and the 5G network happens to meet these requirements perfectly,” said Yang Weixin, Director of Manufacturing at the plant.
　　“In recent years, electronic devices have been updated and iterated at an increasingly rapid pace, with components becoming more sophisticated and operations growing ever more challenging. Previously, when we did assembly work, we had to first watch instructional videos or refer to manuals before getting started—this not only took up a lot of time but also made errors all too easy to occur,” said Zhao Lianhui. “Now, after receiving just a brief training, our employees can quickly get up to speed and start working. The operation guide is right there, embedded in the glasses themselves. Once you put on the 5G+AR glasses, the operation guide appears as a 3D virtual display right in front of your eyes. If you want to check specific installation steps, simply touch the virtual interface with your hand.”
　　“After implementing the 5G+AR solution, we’ve not only shortened assembly time but also reduced the rate of assembly errors and improved product quality,” introduced Yang Weixin. Leveraging 5G network technology, Haier’s smart central air-conditioning interconnected factory has already deployed eight types of machine vision applications, including AR and AI (artificial intelligence). As a result, the factory’s assembly efficiency has increased by 30%, and product quality has improved by 7%.
　　Machine vision quality inspection ensures safe and stable production.
　　In the vast factory hall, the control room’s display screen showed real-time feedback on the quality data of stator laminations used in generator magnetic circuits. The staff members were closely monitoring all the data displayed before them. Suddenly, an alarm message appeared on the screen indicating that one set of data did not meet the quality standards. Immediately, the staff members took action on-site, analyzed the cause, and adjusted the relevant parameters of the automated production machinery. Shortly afterward, the product quality data on the screen returned to normal.
　　At Dongfang Electric Corporation, located in Deyang, Sichuan, an intelligent workshop in the power-generation equipment industry has recently attracted considerable attention. The so-called stator laminations refer to the stator core of large-scale generators and are a crucial component of the motor’s magnetic circuit. Leveraging “5G + Industrial Internet,” this intelligent workshop integrates multiple application scenarios, including machine vision-based quality inspection, real-time monitoring of the production floor, and equipment fault diagnosis. Sitting in a clean and tidy control room, Leng Zhi, the director of the Stamping and Cutting Workshop at Dongfang Electric, told reporters: “In the past, we used to run around the production line every day, checking on the progress of manufacturing. Now, all tasks in the intelligent workshop are handled by automated equipment. Employees have transformed from high-intensity manual operators into ‘commanders’ and ‘supervisors.’”
　　“After unifying the network management of all equipment on the production line, we can gain real-time insights into equipment and production status, and track and trace improvements in product quality and manufacturing processes,” said Leng Zhi. By installing cameras on each piece of equipment, we can directly detect surface defects on stator laminations—such as scratches and dents—as well as assess assembly quality. This approach boasts high precision, fast speed, and excellent stability. At Midea’s microwave and cleaning business division’s production base in Shunde District, Foshan, Guangdong Province—a facility spanning 500,000 square meters—5G network coverage has been fully implemented both indoors and outdoors. In the final assembly workshop, every processing step is equipped with a “mechanical brain” called a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). Operators can remotely issue control commands to the machines via the 5G network, enabling rapid assembly of ovens and microwaves on the automated production line.
　　On the furnace casing assembly line, the AI-based quality inspection system can complete all steps—from capturing high-definition photos and uploading them for analysis to generating quality inspection results—every two seconds. After implementing 5G+AI quality inspection technology, even minor details such as missed screws can trigger immediate alerts. As a result, the overall efficiency of the quality inspection process has improved by 7%, and the false-positive rate has dropped below 0.5%. With its features of high bandwidth, extensive connectivity, high data rates, and low latency, the 5G network ensures smooth and seamless data flow, significantly reducing the complexity of coordinating workflows and data across factories, workshops, and production lines. Zhou Xiaoling, Director of Information Technology at Midea Group, said: “This massive volume of data is akin to a virtual factory. Through big data analytics, we can quickly detect anomalies throughout the production process and address them proactively, thereby ensuring safe and stable manufacturing operations.”
　　Smart logistics in the factory area—optimizing processes to save time and effort.
　　At the Jabil Electronics (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. facility in the Wuxi High-Tech Zone of Jiangsu Province, stacks of newly arrived electronic raw materials are neatly arranged and steadily “move forward” along conveyor belts in an orderly fashion. Next, these materials enter the “belly” of a machine equipped with a camera system. All their label information—such as their origin, manufacturing process, and destination—is meticulously read and then each material is affixed with a unique identification tag issued by the company, much like a personal ID card carried on one’s person. With this “ID card,” the electronic raw materials can now be stored in the warehouse. The entire process is equally intelligent: under system instructions, the materials “transfer” once or several times between conveyor belts and “ride” the “forklift elevators” that shuttle through the three-dimensional warehouse, eventually arriving at their designated storage locations to “rest.” This automated warehousing process is significantly faster than manual handling.
　　According to the factory’s production schedule, the next day, smart transport vehicles—alternating in blue and white—arrived to pick up these electronic raw materials and deliver them to the production workshop. These driverless smart transport vehicles represent a new generation of products for 5G application scenarios: they don’t require tracks or QR code markings. Instead, they rely on centralized control and triangulation-based positioning to achieve precise location tracking, ensuring that each vehicle follows its own designated path without interfering with others. Moreover, they use LiDAR sensors to maintain a safe distance from obstacles.
　　Once the goods reach the shipping stage, intelligent transport vehicles truly shine. Following pre-designed routes, they shuttle back and forth between the finished-product area and the outbound warehouse, enabling smart shipping practices such as first-in, first-out inventory management. Moreover, these vehicles can automatically “fork” standard components—items of uniform size, specifications, and packaging—into large trucks for loading, saving both time and effort. The underlying supporting technologies behind these applications aren't actually that complicated. According to Shu Peng, General Manager of Jabil Electronics, the factory control center located within the plant serves as the brain, while “5G + Industrial Internet” acts as the skeletal framework. By leveraging these new technologies, the system can control and process multiple data streams simultaneously in real time, thereby boosting both quality and efficiency across the entire plant.
　　In the factory control center, through large glass windows, reporters saw that one wall of the room was adorned with 16 large screens. Here, by reading “identity” information, the entire lifecycle—from raw materials entering the plant to finished products leaving the warehouse and even after-sales service—can be effectively tracked. According to reports, after adopting “5G + Industrial Internet,” Jabil Electronics has achieved a 50% increase in the efficiency of automated material handling and a 30% improvement in the efficiency of three-dimensional storage within its smart logistics operations, boosting overall plant-wide efficiency by more than 10%.
　　Source: People's Daily
　　Authors: Li Rui, Wang Yongzhan, Jiang Xiaodan, Yao Xueqing
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