A high degree of individualization, short product life cycles, a wide variety of products and a fast time-to-market are essential success factors today. For manufacturing companies, this increases the demands on their own flexibility, efficiency and speed, which they meet with the increasing digitalization of their production and logistics environments. With data rates of 1,000 Mbit/s, a latency time of less than 1 ms, increased frequency capacities and real-time transmissions, 5G provides the basis for the quality, speed and capacity of data transmission required in the context of digitalization

As a partner in the Competence Center 5G.NRW and 5G-Industry Campus Europe consortium projects, the FIR identifies and tests new applications for networked production based on 5G. The Aachen-based institute is thus promoting the transfer of information and knowledge, particularly with regard to 5G applications in small and medium-sized enterprises.

In the unique 5G model factory, the FIR is developing a platform concept for 5G basic technologies that also takes into account the management of information flows. Here, companies can get a very practical picture of current possible 5G use cases. This transfer of knowledge to industry is supplemented by the white paper "5G - Evolution or Revolution", which was developed by the Center Connected Industry in the Smart Logistics Cluster on the RWTH Campus and the FIR. The white paper provides relevant information on the technical aspects, application scenarios and benefits of the new mobile technology.

With a comprehensive package of measures, the Competence Center 5G.NRW is pursuing the goal of developing North Rhine-Westphalia into the lead market for 5G. The aim is to remove barriers to entry for companies and accelerate the spread of 5G-based applications. The innovation network, which is supported by the four project partners SIKoM+ at the University of Wuppertal, the University of Duisburg-Essen, the Technical University of Dortmund and the FIR, bundles all activities relating to the fifth mobile communications standard, develops economic potential based on 5G and derives recommendations for industrial use from the practical testing of technology and applications. In addition to numerous activities at events, the Competence Center is launching the "Perfect Match" event in January 2020. It aims to bring partners together for the development and implementation of innovative 5G project ideas. A funding pot of 90 million euros underlines the importance of this project for the economy in NRW.

In the 5G-Industry Campus Europe project, three Aachen-based institutes, the FIR, the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT and the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering WZL, are testing applications and solutions for digitalized and networked production in a regional 5G research network on the Melaten campus of RWTH Aachen University. The aim is to create a complete 5G ecosystem that includes both indoor networks in the machine halls of the participating institutes and an outdoor network to connect the various buildings. By demonstrating industrial applications in which the use of 5G brings clear advantages, the 5G-ICE project is also making a significant contribution to establishing the new mobile technology in manufacturing companies. as