Orange has designed and deployed an indoor 5G network based on Ericsson equipment at the LACROIX Electronics plant in Montrevault-sur-Evre, France.
LACROIX Group, an international technological equipment manufacturer, is testing 5G as part of its "Symbiose" project – the electronics factory of the future in France.
Highlights:
- Four indoor 5G antennas (Ericsson Dot) were installed inside the plant, broadcasting experimental frequencies to cover the production space.
- Orange operates a virtualized network core, distributed between the premises of Orange and the LACROIX Electronics plant. This enables local processing and data security, as well as network performance and efficiency, suitable for LACROIX Electronics use cases.
Orange and LACROIX Group are also testing 5G's contribution for better technical management of buildings and infrastructure. The experiment is carried out in a controlled environment, where electronic cards are produced for the aviation sector. The assembly of components requires strict temperature and hydrometric regulation to prevent damage. LACROIX Environment, a subsidiary specializing in water and energy network management, provides connected equipment to receive real-time measurements. Optimizing the settings will prevent over-consumption of energy. 5G will enable a response to the increasing number of sensors in the plant. In fact, 5G will be able to support up to 1 million sensors per km² (3GPP 5G standard). Eventually, thanks to the increase in the number of sensors, it will also be possible to calculate the carbon footprint and power consumption required for the production of each product.
"We are very pleased to collaborate with LACROIX Group as part of this digitized, human and environmentally friendly factory of the future. 5G will be a digitization facilitator for Industry and a competitive lever for both the economic environment and all enterprises, regardless of size or location," said Helmut Reisinger, CEO Orange Business Services.
