Three Ireland and Ericsson have teamed up with leading agri-food business Glanbia Ireland in a strategic partnership to install an indoor 5G network at the company’s cheese plant. The facility located in Ballyragget, County Kilkenny, is the first ever implementation in a live manufacturing environment in Ireland.

The groundbreaking initiative will increase manufacturing efficiency, and allow Glanbia to test how 5G can provide enhanced connectivity solutions for their wider production facilities. Brian Farrell, Engineering Manager at Glanbia Ireland, Ballyragget said the initiative emphasises the importance of networks as an enabler for Digital Industrial Transformation.

Three Ireland’s Head of Enterprise and Public Sector, Karl Duffy, said that the opportunity now exists for companies of all sizes to create a pilot, and scale over time. “The companies that act now will achieve first mover advantage within their sector, which can’t be underestimated,” he said. “The bespoke opportunities and insights which 5G can provide to organisations and sectors is really exciting to us at Three Ireland, delivering a real step-change from 4G.”

For the plant itself, its new 5G network solution will enable faster and more accurate maintenance tasks on the plant floor. It will also assist in problem solving, providing for richer analysis of plant processes, reducing manual administration. Not to mention creating a greener and safer manufacturing environment for years to come.

You can read the press release here.