Impact of 5G Technologies on Industry 4.0

Manufacturing has evolved over the course of centuries from the days of handmade goods to the adoption of water-and steam-powered machines, the invention of mass production, the introduction of electronic automation, and now beyond. Today, the benchmark for companies to keep up with, is Industry 4.0. Here, Manufacturing systems go beyond simple connection, to also communicate, analyse and use collected information to drive further intelligent actions. It represents an integration of IoT, analytics, additive manufacturing, robotics, artificial intelligence, advanced materials, and augmented reality. The paper looks at the evolution of the Industrial revolution and the technologies that have impacted their growth. The proposed features of 5G technologies are listed and described how these features impact the Industries of the future, leading to Industries 4.0. 5G promises to be a key enabler for Factories of the Future, providing unified communication platform needed to disrupt with new business models and to overcome the shortcomings of current communication technologies.