At MWC 2018, the companies will present the benefits of 5G-supported industrial virtualization in the form of a groundbreaking proof of concept - the first concrete result of a year of collaboration - which was implemented in Italy and has now been brought to Barcelona. It shows the factory of the future, realized through the digitalization of manufacturing processes and equipment and enabled by 5G networks with all their building blocks.

Based on TIM and Ericsson's position in 5G technologies and Comau's leading position in automated manufacturing solutions, the collaboration will demonstrate the benefits of advanced solutions for industrial automation.

Industry 4.0 will be one of the important 5G use cases in terms of business potential because it leverages 5G technologies, robotics, machine learning, IoT platforms, cloud and big data solutions to achieve increased competitiveness and efficiency in smart manufacturing, maintenance and quality control.

Guaranteed real-time communication between people, robots, factory logistics and products is a fundamental prerequisite for the concept of Industry 4.0.

Producing good products is important for the success of a manufacturer, but not enough to run a profitable and sustainable business. The key factor is to improve the efficiency of a manufacturing system through automation.

The factory of the future could consist of flexible production islands that can produce different types of components without the rigidity of conveyor belts and with standardized, robotized workstations.

The first results of the collaboration between Ericsson, TIM, Comau and the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies within the "5G for Italy" program show that 5G - thanks to standardized network capabilities, integrated security, guaranteed service level as well as distributed cloud and network slicing concepts - is a perfect tool for advanced industries that want to take advantage of the digital transformation.

"As a leader in 5G infrastructure - including cloud technologies, big data analytics and IT capabilities - Ericsson is well positioned to play a crucial role in this transformation and develop customized solutions for it in collaboration with various industries. Our fruitful collaboration with TIM, Comau and the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa is the first step," said Federico Rigoni, Country Manager at Ericsson Italy.

"Today, all industries are undergoing a profound ICT-based transformation. Our strategy aims to make Industry 4.0 a reality in Italy and the collaboration with Ericsson and Comau is an important milestone in demonstrating how digital and industrial assets can leverage the potential of 5G. Moreover, in its first year, the 5G for Italy initiative has already successfully created a solid corporate network environment that will benefit all partners in the various industries and support TIM in its commitment to make Italy one of the leading nations in the digital transformation towards a gigabit society," Mario Di Mauro, Chief Strategy Officer at TIM, emphasizes the importance of the results.

Mauro Fenzi, CEO at Comau, emphasizes the importance of the project: "Digitalized operations have accelerated the transformation of the manufacturing industry from mass production to customization. 5G technology makes it possible to optimize the manufacturing process, detect quality problems at an early stage to avoid defects and make continuous improvements, while performing preventive and predictive maintenance. In this context, the combination of wireless sensors and high-performance communication networks such as 4G and 5G plays a crucial role by enabling data collection at production level (production lines) and data transmission to cloud systems for continuous monitoring and control. This collaboration offers us the opportunity to develop the technological infrastructures for the communication networks of "Factory 4.0"." kp