ILMA Compoundings - June 2020 - 31

"Mobile delivery apps will be helpful
as long as this fans out into all of the
areas they deliver into," he said. "The
applications will evolve to have more
data and access to an ERP system."
More companies are using technology
to collaborate. "You can share information and put information in one place
on a mobile device," O'Donnell said.
"The trend is this is going to help manufacturers move to more mobility within
their data access and communications."
The global pandemic of COVID-19
has highlighted the value of working
remotely, he said. That could influence
the need for faster speeds.
Greg Julian, president of Advanced
Lubrication Specialties, said more
than 40% of staff started working
remotely due to the novel coronavirus,
and another 25% were working at
a different company location. "One
of our locations uses a VPN phone
system. The first week we started the
office transition, we saw a huge uptick
in our bandwidth and usage, which
caused our VPN phone system to lose
calls," he said. "We immediately shut
off our guest wireless connection and
eliminated employees from using any
streaming at their desk."

The 5G Time Frame
The first commercial deployments of
5G in the U.S., Europe and Asia came
in 2019, Koenig said. "These were
limited to urban areas and focused
on enhanced mobile broadband and
initial deployments of fixed wireless
solutions for home broadband," he
said. "It will take several years for 5G
networks to reach full deployment in
capability and geography due to new
infrastructure requirements."
Uphoff said the rollout won't
happen overnight, but early adopters
of 5G will better position themselves
to beat their competitors.
Manufacturers who have already
gone wireless are in an excellent

"Manufacturers are going to get information faster, and there will
be more information pushed over the line."
Sean O'Donnell, chairman, Datacor
position to take advantage of 5G,
Uphoff said. However, the majority
- up to 80% - of factory connectivity is wired, he explained. "Since
manufacturing equipment is built to
last upwards of a decade, it could be a
while until we see the full impact of 5G
on the industry unless manufacturers
are willing to invest in all-new wireless
machines or the upgrades needed to
make them compatible," he said.
To take advantage of 5G, O'Donnell said manufacturers might have to
swap out some of their communication equipment.
Cost can become a factor with 5G
devices, Uphoff said. "5G chips were
not integrated into modems, and 5G
user equipment is not easily accessible
yet in factories," he said. "Rather than
thinking of 5G as a technological
upgrade, warehouse managers and
supply chain managers should regard
it as new foundational architecture
that, in the long run, will lead to
significant cost-cutting."
However, the costs for 5G itself
shouldn't be much more than for 4G.
"In fact, some wireless carriers aren't
even charging customers more to use
5G on their smartphones," Uphoff said.

System Security
With more consumers and businesses
relying on high-speed internet and
data-heavy applications than ever,
network reliability and security are
crucial. "Whether we're talking about
cloud security or a physical break-in,

the reality is that threats have always
and will always exist," Uphoff said.
Van Dorselaer said AT&T is embedding security directly into the design,
architecture and functionality of its
software-defined network. "As new
threats are identified, this enables us
to be more agile in detecting, patching
and preventing attacks," he said.
As part of its security efforts, AT&T
uses virtualized security controls,
which enable the company to protect the network on a global scale.
"We have automated security policy
throughout the network and are
using machine-learning technology
to create an award-winning threat
analytics platform," he said. "We have
automated the process of instituting
firewalls to protect applications and
deployed technologies that help to
contain attacks and prevent them from
spreading throughout the network."
Uphoff said companies have to ask
themselves what will maximize their
business potential while minimizing
security concerns. "One of the greatest
advantages of 5G is that an entire warehouse can be connected on one private,
secure network. It does not rely on special add-ons or peripheral systems," he
said. "Using a central network control
will afford businesses greater security
also in the sense of seeing real-time
data that will allow them to adjust for
precision and efficiency."
Long is a freelance writer and journalist.
She can be reached at 925-750-7163
or mindy@mindylong.com.

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