Automobile manufacturer Audi has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Swedish infrastructure provider Ericsson to trial 5G cell phone and network technology in vehicle manufacturing . The two companies want to test the use of 5G technology in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) or Industry 4.0. The plan is to set up a test site with a 5G wireless cell in the Audi Production Lab in Gaimersheim near Ingolstadt and to investigate use of the technology for industrial applications in a smart factory. Wireless interaction between an industrial robot and an adhesive application is to be used as a practical test in which short latency times are particularly important. In this scenario, the two partners also want to integrate alternative or complementary wireless technologies such as WLAN and Ethernet.

On the one hand, 5G is a potential mass market; on the other, companies with 5G could boost their productivity and create new business opportunities. Ericsson is one of the equipment providers that is currently hoping to secure pole position in the race for 5G. The Swedes are therefore already participating in several 5G industrial programs worldwide.