Robot boss and virtual technicians: these factories that are already running 5G

REPORTAGE

"This robot, we are piloting it from Hong Kong."

In the Schneider Electric factory of the future, pallet trucks drive themselves, operators use augmented reality to solve technical problems with their machines, and the company's CEO, based in Hong Kong, is present under the shape of a robot.

At this factory in Vaudreuil, Normandy, everything has been working since last March with 5G.

An experimental project in French factories

Because if the auctions for the allocation of frequencies start Tuesday, and should allow the four giants of mobile telephony, SFR, Orange, Bouygues and Free, to offer the first consumer 5G offers, this technology is already used in some factories of the hexagon.

For the moment, it operates thanks to experimental frequencies allocated by Arcep (the communications regulatory authority) as part of a pilot project.

And it is far from being a gadget, explains Christel Heydemann, CEO France of Schneider Electric.

"In the last few months that we have just spent with the Covid, during which we had to set up remote work solutions, 5G has provided user comfort, fluidity and image quality that is absolutely critical. . And that's what it takes for customers, they want to see our machines in detail. "

For the boss of Orange, "an essential step"

For this experiment, Schneider Electric joined forces with Orange.

According to its boss, Stéphane Richard, it is the industry that will benefit the most from this technological advance.

It is therefore necessary, in his opinion, to extend it as quickly as possible.

"This is an essential step in order to be able to make progress in a whole bunch of areas essential to society: remote medicine, smart cars, smart cities!"

And time is running out according to Stéphane Richard, because within two years, the 4G network could be saturated, seriously complicating industrial uses.