5G has always played a crucial role in empowering all manner of industries. The use of 5G to transform and upgrade industries requires joint innovation from enterprises, operators, and device manufacturers. China Resources Building Materials Technology Holdings Limited (CR Bldg Materials Tech) proactively explores intelligent manufacturing, drives digital transformation of the manufacturing sector, and strengthens the convergence of 5G and the industrial Internet, enabling the evolution of its internal and external networks. In addition, the company makes use of cutting-edge technologies like Multi-access Edge Computing(MEC) and network slicing to enable the intelligent manufacturing applications of the industrial Internet.
Leveraging 5G technology, CR Bldg Materials Tech achieves comprehensive wireless network coverage across cement mines, factories, and offices. This helps transform device, production, and safety management into intelligent systems. The goal is to establish a benchmark for 5G-empowered intelligent manufacturing in the building materials industry. This will in turn drive the development of intelligent hardware, 5G communications, and other innovations.
China Unicom has been collaborated with CR Bldg Materials Tech to address the development needs of the building materials industry. Harnessing the power of 5G, the two companies have been deploying lightweight, customized products such as industry-specific 5G modules, terminals, and gateways as well as MEC-powered edge clouds that integrate computing, storage, Artificial Intelligence (AI), safety, and networking. These efforts aim to offer an innovative application platform for network management and 5G-powered industrial Internet. The platform targets eight typical scenarios to develop solutions for 5G-powered industrial Internet in the building materials industry, providing typical applications in intelligent production lines, digital mining area construction, safety monitoring, device networking, device maintenance, data collection, smart campuses, and offices. The two parties have transformed manufacturing with 5G technology, intelligently upgrading production processes. Together, they have set a benchmark for digital transformation in the industry.
This project, implemented by China Unicom, helps CR Bldg Materials Tech establish a 5G-powered industrial Internet application service system. This system has enabled CR Bldg Materials Tech to roll out self-developed 5G integrated terminals in the building materials industry, build China's largest 5G private network spanning 14 factories across six provinces, launch a unified management and maintenance platform for one headquarters (HQ) and 14 branches, and roll out 19 applications across all processes of the building materials industry in eight typical scenarios.
First Self-Developed 5G Integrated Terminal and Large-Scale 5G RedCap Deployment
While 5G is slowly making inroads in the building materials industry, the development of RedCap modules has severely lagged behind. To bridge this gap, CR Bldg Materials Tech is seeking to establish a 5G-powered smart building materials joint innovation lab. In collaboration with partners like China Unicom, Hikvision, and ZTE, CR Bldg Materials Tech has developed and commissioned RedCap terminals at the Nanning base. These terminals have simplified front-end functions and modules to minimize power consumption. There are nine different types of these connected 5G terminals, including predictive maintenance terminals, 5G smart helmets, and 5G handheld industrial devices, as well as 5G gateways, RedCap cameras, and drones. So far, 10,312 5G terminals in 14 factories across China have been connected through the China Unicom Gewu platform, with application deployment at scale. This large-scale deployment not only reduces terminal costs, but also accelerates the development of the 5G terminal ecosystem, laying a solid foundation for 5G adoption in the building materials industry.
China's Largest 5G Private Network Covering Multiple Campuses Across Provinces in the Building Materials Industry
CR Bldg Materials Tech is driving innovation in 5G applications by developing specifications and standards, and scaling their adoption nationwide. It has built the largest 5G SA network dedicated to the building materials industry, serving 14 factories across the provinces of Guangxi, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Yunnan, and Fujian. The network boasts 140 macro base stations, 216 indoor distributed base stations, a central control plane in each province, distributed UPFs closer to users, and 14 MEC-empowered edge clouds. Using cutting-edge technologies such as RedCap and 5G slicing, the network enables data to be processed within campuses and signaling within provinces. This is accelerating 5G adoption in the building materials industry.
5G Platform: CR Bldg Materials Tech and China Unicom Jointly Manage and Maintain 5G Industrial Private Networks Spanning One HQ and14 Branches Across China
China Unicom is transitioning its 5G networks from serving individual consumers (B2C) to focusing on businesses (B2B), shifting from general-purpose solutions to highly customized ones. It has developed a platform covering one HQ and 14 branches for CR Bldg Materials Tech. Through this platform, China Unicom and CR Bldg Materials Tech can jointly manage and maintain 5G networks, such as by issuing cards. The platform is based on the industrial Internet platform of CR Bldg Materials Tech, and flexibly integrates existing CMP connectivity management, DMP terminal management, data analysis, and visualization into service applications. It also uses real-world simulation technology to provide a unified, 3D view of the status of 5G resources across the cloud, network, edge, and terminals.
19 Applications Covering Eight Scenarios in All Processes of the Building Materials Industry
Using the aforementioned 5G modules, 5G private networks, and platform, China Unicom and CR Bldg Materials Tech have jointly developed 19 5G applications by conducting tests in eight scenarios, such as intelligent warning, digital mining area construction, safety monitoring, device networking, and device monitoring. These applications include 5G-based personnel behavior identification, device data collection, and wireless dispatching of mining trucks.
CR Bldg Materials Tech has made significant achievements through the project and remains committed to digitally transforming itself and the industry, which will help reduce costs and boost efficiency. Through smart manufacturing and its in-depth application, CR Bldg Materials Tech has increased the digitalization rate of key service processes to 86%, developing a specialized methodology that improves production efficiency and reduces operating costs. Notable achievements include:
·The intelligent O&M platform has been connected to 1,791 hosts across 31 cement production lines at 18 bases, providing routine maintenance and diagnosis as well as monthly health check. It has proactively identified potential risks, reducing direct economic losses from device incidents by nearly CNY20 million.
· The quality management system has been officially launched at 24 bases. It automatically generates regular quality reports and inspection reports, reducing the statistical workload by 60%.
· The energy management system reduces energy consumption and production costs by adopting management methods such as production control during off-peak hours and flexibly management of power consumption based on peak, valley, and flat hours.
· Unmanned systems used for electric mining trucks resulted in cost savings of CNY5,120,000 in 2023 for Tianyang Cement. It has also lowered the annual operating costs at the Tianyang base by 83%, cut annual CO2 emissions by68%, and improved per-capita efficiency by more than 50%.
Furthermore, CR Bldg Materials Tech and China Unicom have partnered to formulate a landmark standard for 5G private networks in the building materials industry, paving the way for digital transformation and the creation of 5G-powered intelligent manufacturing in this industry.
Currently, 5G is being upgraded to 5G-A, which will introduce capabilities such as deterministic network performance. This will enable 5G to be more deeply integrated into industries and in more application scenarios. Against this backdrop, CR Bldg Materials Tech will continue to innovate and invest resources, so as to achieve breakthroughs and innovations.