An open-access testbed to help manufacturers unlock the potential of 5G technology. The smart factory of tomorrow starts today

The Partners

5G Factory of the Future is delivered by a consortium of industrial and academic leaders from the global and UK manufacturing and telecommunications sectors. The project is part-funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and is part of its 5G Testbed & Trials programme.

University of Sheffield - Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre
BAE Systems logo
IBM logo
Catapult Digital logo
aql logo
Fuuse logo
Machine Tool Technologies

5G Factory of the Future:
Transforming Manufacturing

This ground-breaking project is unlocking the potential of 5G technologies in manufacturing to
accelerate industrial digitalisation and support UK manufacturers on their journey to a smart,
productive and sustainable future.

A Northern Manufacturing Powerhouse

Transformative capability is needed if UK manufacturers are to thrive and survive. 5G Factory of the Future is helping sow the seeds of a 5G-enabled future by helping manufacturers across the North West to better understand the benefits of adopting 5G technologies. These benefits include: better insights, lower costs, higher margins, increased quality, reduced time to market and improved delivery times.

Our open-access industrial testbed is developing integrated solutions to address some of the key manufacturing challenges by deploying 5G technologies, using test cases such as robotic assembly, reconfigurable product assembly lines and distributed and shared virtual reality and augmented reality.

The testbed will help manufacturers unlock and realise the potential benefits that 5G technology can bring to their operations. The smart factory of tomorrow starts today.

  • Demonstration of cost-efficiency
  • Return on investment
  • Compatibility
  • Interoperability
  • Security
  • Tackling lack of 5G understanding and cultural barriers.
Two people reading from a clipboard

Industrial Applications

5G Factory of the Future has developed five use cases for 5G in manufacturing, delivering innovation with measurable outcomes.

Click the arrows to navigate the industrial applications

Introducing Hybrid Reality Spaces

Challenge: Enabling real-time rich information and AI assistance to be exploited by people at the point-of-use; reducing cost of downtime, interpretation and uncertainty.

Result: Estimated reduction in travel costs (65%) and maintenance time (15%) arising from real-time, worldwide collaboration and increased ease of training and maintenance support.

Introducing Hybrid Reality Spaces

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Supported By

Department for Culture Media & Sport logo
UK 5G logo