Corning's industrial 5G implementation, one of the first in the U.S., enables increased automation in North Carolina plant

November 27, 2019 | Case Study

Providing radio frequency coverage with sufficient low latency and high bandwidth for autonomous systems in real time is a major challenge for manufacturing companies. Use cases like operating autonomous guided vehicles (AGV) and tracking and inspecting inventory are limited in terms of location and accuracy with traditional IIoT connectivity technology. To address this issue, Corning has installed one of the first U.S. industrial 5G networks in its year-old $60 million fiber-optic plant in Hickory, North Carolina. The company tapped Verizon to install fixed 5G ultrawideband base stations throughout the plant, which is one of the largest fiber-optic manufacturing sites.