Cellnex-owned Edzcom, one of the pioneer firms in the industrial private cellular market, has a deal with electronics firm OMRON to provide industrial enterprises with a managed private LTE/5G service with the Japanese firm’s industrial robotics products. The partnership has been formalised in the latter’s developing ‘innovation network’ of solution providers, but the message from Edzcom is that its private network solution, which has drawn heavily on Nokia and Athonet (HPE) historically, is being integrated into OMRON’s broad autonomous mobile robotics (AMR) offer.
A statement said: “Edzcom and OMRON are at the forefront of revolutionising manufacturing through seamless connectivity integrated into AMRs. By optimising material flow, reducing errors, enabling smart storage, and automating tasks, the partnership enhances operational efficiency. Moreover, the AMR, with reliable connectivity provided by private 5G, can work in real-time to prioritise safety assurance and reduction of worker injuries from handling heavy or hazardous materials.”
Both companies called private 5G – “reliable connectivity”; or cellular integration into Industry 4.0 solutions – the “cornerstone” of smarter industrial operations. They implied 5G will helped enterprises to address “critical issues relating to factory automation”, including limitations with network coverage and latency for AMR “navigation decisions”, process optimisation and control, and stretching demands on reliable connectivity as a result of high volumes of IoT devices and IoT data.
Daniel Rossek, system integration manager for the EMEA region at OMRON said “The integration of private 5G is the cornerstone in tackling data connectivity challenges prevalent in AMR and real-time process control environments. Edzcom brings our customers the benefits of a private 5G network – including enhanced network coverage, low latency, and end-to-end data encryption – to unlock the maximum benefits of automation.”
He made clear OMRON is incorporating Edzcom’s entire managed private 5G service into its channel operations. He added: “Edzcom equips businesses with a single point of contact for designing, building, and operating tailored private networks, paving the way to achieving their digitalization objectives. This collaboration is centered around our shared vision of harnessing the full potential of 5G networks to revolutionize automation, promising seamless connectivity, ultra-low latency, and unmatched efficiency.”
Catherine Gull, head of business development at Edzcom, said: “Reliable connectivity is the cornerstone of automation. This partnership with OMRON delivers enterprises a holistic solution; a bespoke private 4G/5G connectivity provided by Edzcom with OMRON´s best-of-breed automation solutions.”