Today we are in Chicago at the Digital Manufacturing Institute and the National Center for Cybersecurity in Manufacturing (MxD), where we have been selected to provide the Private 5G network for the nation’s top manufacturers as they test the latest in manufacturing automation at the MxD Factory Floor innovation lab.
MxD brings hundreds of organizations together to advance the future of the U.S. manufacturing industry, including most of the big names like Siemens, Dow, John Deere, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Intel and Microsoft. Funded through these member companies and the Department of Defense, MxD equips U.S. factories with the digital tools, cybersecurity, and workforce expertise needed to strengthen U.S. manufacturing competitiveness on a global scale. The “Nation’s Manufacturing Institute”, MxD focuses on addressing manufacturing’s most pressing problems, including factory and supply chain automation and cybersecurity.
As the chosen provider to deliver secure private 5G connectivity throughout the MxD Factory Floor, we take our role quite seriously. Working with our partners Airspan and Druid, we have deployed and are operating one of the nation’s first indoor Private 5G networks – Betacom 5G as a Service.
The MxD Factory Floor covers 22,000 square feet with multiple manufacturing lines operated by participating innovation teams to demonstrate, de-risk and validate digital technology for factories and supply chains. We are supporting projects like the Digital Manufacturing Playbook, and working across teams to determine when private 4G networks are the best choice for business critical applications and when private 5G networks will become necessary for applications that require high speed and ultra-low latency. Strengthening security is an underpinning of every project we’re working on.
MxD CEO Chandra Brown put it best. “Cutting-edge communication capabilities introduce the ability to get data in near real-time to make faster, better-informed decisions in manufacturing facilities across the United States. 5G is an enabling technology that will help unlock potential for manufacturers to be more efficient and competitive, and we are excited to deploy this private network at MxD in partnership with Betacom.”
Johan Bjorklund, CEO
May 24, 2022
