The impact of 5G in Maintenance Repair Organisations : The Journey to MRO 5G

Brig YVR Vijay

Realistically, what can we expect from 5G in Maintenance and Repair Management? 5G will basically give us multi Giga bit per secs data speed, ultra low latency, more reliability, greater network capacity, better user experience.

Given all the features which 5G has, the greatest potential of 5G is in predictive maintenance and prescriptive maintenance. It allows more equipment to be connected simultaneously, systems to be further integrated, and quality data to be obtained without latency. It also paves the way for remote repairs with augmented reality.

5G  and the expansion of IoT to all sides of the MRO business, from suppliers to the end of the production line (in the case of manufacturing) – will help to reduce downtime, increase asset reliability, and improve quality control.

In industry , maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), adopting untested processes are not the norm. And yet, as with many industries, the recent pandemic has pushed  MRO into new ways of working and thinking about the industry. Directly influenced by costly OEM  manufacturers, there are new technology trends around Industry 5G that are improving productivity, safety and precision. With the arrival of 5G  the time has come to move to  MRO 5G.

Remote Inspection

The basic use of 5G capabilities is to enable remote inspection of equipment. The COVID era forced this on us as experts could not travel. 5G network enables  an effective virtual inspection service with predictable performance and no downtimes. 5G networking, with its very high bandwidth and low latency, as well as its support for massive IoT sensor networks and mobile applications, has the potential to enable many more use cases in the MRO  space.

Greater Network Power Empowers MRO

From an industrial perspective, when contemplating the digital transformation of operations, the 5G story means one network to install, maintain and operate. One network to secure. It provides a connectivity platform for innovation without having to re-invest in a different communications technology for each use case. Looking at MRO  specifically, use cases can be identified that cover everything from the floor to the parts warehouse.

Looking again at the industry examples of remote parts inspection, one is able to display the finest details of individual parts, such as hairline cracks, using several ultra-high-definition (UHD) video streams in parallel. This can not have been achieved with normal Wi-Fi due to bandwidth limitations. 5G will show no drops, or increase in latency, when moving from one cell to another, which is another weakness with Wi-Fi. 5G cellular radio can  master the noisy radio environments typical in busy urban environment.

5G ENABLES BETTER USE OF DRONE BASED COMMUNICATION

Looking to new use cases, equipment inspection can be supported by advanced technology operating on a 5G network. For example, connected drones using cameras and image analytics can be used to visualize difficult to reach areas on operational equipment. They can identify damage and anomalies that might need closer inspection such as dents, lightning strike damage, paint defects, fastener defects, corrosion and cracks.

ENGINE BOROSCOPY

Engine boroscopy is often used to inspect difficult to reach parts without dismantling the component. 5G connectivity opens the opportunity for MRO to remotely participate in the borescope inspection to allow for greater real time collaboration with the inspector and interactive digital documentation.

AR AND VR

5G supported augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) is another promising technology for MRO. Use cases include inspections, customizations and repairs utilizing modified augmented reality systems currently used .

Augmented reality will help to further support the engineer, bringing down the training efforts for specific modifications at the same time. The graphics can also help to identify the actual parts of the equipment and show the steps for repair. Remote experts and clients can observe the repair using HD video and advise personnel while they are working.

Heads up displays and smart goggles can also be used for this case. The head gear must precisely track the movements of the wearer, which calls for extreme accuracy and low latencies, which only 5G can support.

Meanwhile, outside the repair area, repair personal can be trained on the equipment that they are to service using virtual reality. A VR image of, for instance, a MBT Tank engine, can be projected using VR headsets and technicians can be led through the engine interacting with parts. In the most advanced form, they would be able to move parts out of position and into position, reaching around obstacles and learning the optimized set of movements for the greatest efficiency.

IOT SENSORS WITH 5G

In the fullest implementations, trainees would wear sensors on their limbs, torso and head to synchronize their virtual body within the projected digital twin of the equipment. All of these sensors have to communicate near-instantaneously to process the interactions and provide immediate feedback to the trainee. The 5G edge server can be employed to do this local processing and ensure <1ms latencies for precise movement control.

During operations, sensors on the equipment can record critical operational data to later be processed in the 5G edge cloud. Machine learning can be used to learn about the equipment performance and historical rates of degradation of different components. These can help maintenance teams evolve from strict schedule-based maintenance to condition-based and, even, predictive maintenance.

MRO industry analytics can identify out-of-schedule issues that may become critical before the next scheduled check. They may even be able to predict failures before even a well-trained technician will be able to detect an anomaly. 5G cannot only support these advanced sensor networks, but also quickly download the large log files from the equipment.

5G ENHANCES POWER OF ROBOTS

There are also operational processes around the floor and the warehouse that can benefit from 5G communications. Automated mobile robots are a big trend in automated workspaces. The workflow management system can control the robots pick and delivery paths and optimize batches in real-time as demands for parts come in from mechanics and other MRO facilities. It can also warn robots of congestion and possible collisions.

Robots on 5G have no practical speed limits. If they are operating in a warehouse where there are no people present, it is possible for them to move at much higher speeds than Wi-Fi controlled robots.

5G ENABLED WORK FLOW AUTOMATION

Other technologies available anywhere in the facility include location-tracking of smart assets, enabling better workflow management. Workers can also be directly connected to the wireless network, allowing not only push-to-talk and push-to-video communications, but health and safety monitoring of the worker’s condition, and the provision of productivity-enhancing devices and tools. For instance, warehouse workers can use hand scanners that read barcodes, optically scan items, respond to voice commands and present data on a tablet screen or smart glasses to speed the time required to manually store and retrieve parts.

The Journey to MRO 5G

The digital transformation of MRO has been accelerated by the pandemic. Given the competitive cost pressures and sustainability challenges faced by industry, the digitalization trend can only be expected to accelerate. MRO companies need to think holistically about this evolution and design a long-term digital strategy to move to MRO exploiting 5G. A critical component of this evolution will be installing mission-critical, wireless connectivity, that can support the high throughput, low latencies and sensor-communications required. All signs point to 5G as one of the key building blocks of the future MRO  platforms.