Widespread demand for new high-tech smart manufacturing facilities is finally bringing about the Fourth Industrial Revolution—and fiber optic networks are critical in its realization
By Gayla Arrindell
Published: July 11, 2024
It’s been a while coming, but thanks to the emergence of new technology enabled by artificial intelligence /AI) and machine learning (ML), the Fourth Industrial Revolution—or Industry 4.0 for short—appears set to finally transform manufacturing at scale. Driven by the progression of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and automation, factories are evolving to serve high-tech industries through the convergence of operational and information technology (OT and IT, respectively). And to work their best, these converged networks require rich fiber optic connectivity.
A massive opportunity
This decade has given rise to a tremendous boom in domestic high-tech manufacturing in several industries including semiconductors, biomanufacturing, electric vehicles, and batteries. This growth is being driven by unprecedented government investment—including nearly $150 billion for semiconductor manufacturing alone in the last four years—and spurring the construction of dozens of brand-new factories across the country.
The complex nature of these facilities and the constraints of the labor market are combining to provide the ideal foundation for Industry 4.0. New precision technologies are required to build these sophisticated products, and greater automation driven by AI and ML is needed to keep up with demand in the face of labor challenges.
To unlock the technological capabilities of Industry 4.0 for these facilities, their designers must engineer them with network infrastructure that is not only capable of connecting far-flung endpoints and handling vast amounts of data, but can also withstand harsh environments without degradation. In nearly every situation, this means fiber optic cabling.
Based on my experience in helping provision next-generation manufacturing sites, there are three primary reasons why fiber is critical for the realization of smart industry and the success of these vital sectors.
1. Maximum performance
Historically, manufacturing sites operated two discrete networks: a traditional IT network, and another for OT production machines that was separate and proprietary. Each had its own objectives and requirements, and the separation made sense – until now. In Industry 4.0, these networks are being combined into one backbone architecture that merges control of the machines with advanced operation and analytics software.
However, this converged network requires more than just the bandwidth to accommodate the sum of its parts. Central to Industry 4.0 is the IIoT, in which manufacturing facilities are embedded with an array of sensors that allows automate processes and optimize operations. When carried out at scale, IIoT has the capability to not only streamline efficiency and allow for more sophisticated kinds of manufacturing processes—such as those required to create the increasingly dense layouts of semiconductors—but can also unlock use cases like inventory control and allow for process refinement through experimentation with digital twins.
All this activity requires the transmission of significant quantities of data, and as capabilities advance further, it’s critical to ensure that manufacturing facility networks are capable of handling it. Therefore, organizations that are in the process of modernizing or building out new facilities should engineer them around a fiber optic backbone to allow for maximum throughput, expandability, and minimum latency.
2. Extendibility and robustness
Fiber is also necessary to allow for the long, uninterrupted wiring spans required by large buildings like manufacturing facilities. Whereas a typical local area network (LAN) architecture can work for offices, where equipment closets can be positioned every 100 meters, manufacturing facilities often lack the floor IT closet infrastructure. In addition, the copper-based ethernet cabling utilized in conventional LANs is more susceptible to electromagnetic interference and degradation from the demanding environmental elements of many manufacturing facilities than fiber.
Utilizing a fiber-to-the-edge (FTTE) design, facilities can employ what is known as a long reach network that eliminates many of the pain points of conventional network design. Fiber cabling can be installed throughout an entire facility, regardless of size, bringing essentially limitless bandwidth directly to the equipment that needs to be connected, with just a short run of copper for the last few feet. The long-reach aspect of fiber also enables more far-flung devices to be connected, such as security and visual intelligence cameras. Fiber is also immune to electromagnetic interference and crosstalk that can contribute to signal loss in copper-based cabling.
3. Sustainability
Beyond its capabilities in reliable, long-distance signal transmission, fiber is also an important element of a more environmentally conscious design, an increasingly important consideration for the manufacturing sector. The building sector accounts for nearly 39% of annual greenhouse gas emissions globally, with 28% resulting from building operators (operational carbon or resultant emissions from energy and fuel consumption) and 11% from building materials and construction. To counteract these emissions, more companies are adopting an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework. I predict there will be more of an emphasis on achieving net-zero goals. According to a study done on our very own Charlotte, N.C. headquarters showed an environmental advantage of integrating Corning’s based fiber optic network design is lower-carbon emissions and a resilient in building design—resulting in up to a 6.8% reduction in whole-building life cycle carbon over 30 years.
Furthermore, deploying a fiber network is a “one and done” deployment and is much easier to upgrade, compared to traditional LAN copper-based configurations. From a materials standpoint, a facility built with a fiber backbone will typically not need to be rewired for decades, compared to the much more frequent rip-and-replace upgrades that copper-based category cable requires as bandwidth demands grow.
Because it can deliver signals at long distances without attenuation, fiber doesn’t require the array of equipment rooms that copper-based LANs demand. Therefore, FTTE networks avoid the upgrade cycles of the switching equipment in these rooms, and more importantly, the energy costs associated with cooling the equipment.
4. Faster and simpler deployments
Corning offers a broad range of products to equip the next generation of manufacturing facilities for the future—and to help get them up and running quickly. Corning’s fiber cable, hardware, and connectivity solutions are engineered for a variety of industrial applications and made to withstand both harsh and clean environments. For example, Corning Remote Power with ActiFi® Hybrid Cable can deliver up to 800W at distances up to 2,000 feet, simplifying the process of extending connectivity and power to endpoints across large facilities. And when built using Corning’s line of preterminated fiber cables featuring ruggedized, IP68-rated Pushlok® and Evolv® Terminals, crews can get new facilities wired faster.
As the need to scale up production in high-tech manufacturing sectors continues to grow, it’s important to ensure these new facilities are wired not just for today’s needs, but to accommodate whatever new technology might be required down the line. The key to meeting both of these demands and helping to unlock the full potential of Industry 4.0 is fiber.
Click here to learn more about our solutions or fill out the form below to connect with one of our experts.
