Under the terms of the partnership, the P5G platform will be piloted at Schneider’s Lexington Smart Factory by early 2022. The Lexington Smart Factory is the first of Schneider Electric’s US plants to become a Smart Factory showcase site using IoT connectivity, Edge analytics, and predictive analytics to drive energy efficiency and support sustainability goals.

“With this strategic partnership, we are confident that NTT’s P5G solution will support Schneider Electric business and service level objectives with a powerful machine vision solution that solves for operational continuity and performance throughout the Lexington and Lincoln plant facilities,” said Shahid Ahmed, EVP of new ventures and innovation at NTT.

“Our P5G platform brings full-stack managed services, process workflow and IoT application integration capabilities that both addresses strategic objectives towards factory high performance and net zero carbon emission goals.”

Once completed, the P5G platform will enable use-cases that solve challenges around equipment availability, machine performance, and product quality.

In addition, the solution will create a model for operational integrity management across global factory environments, enabling network Edge platforms.

“In partnering with NTT, Schneider Electric further extends its manufacturing expertise along with data centre and network solutions to drive innovations for self-contained Edge Private 5G use-cases,” said Luc Rémont, executive vice president of international operations at Schneider Electric.

“Above and beyond superior security and control offered through this partnership, wireless networks offer superior benefits over a wired network from a sustainability perspective – smaller copper cabling footprint means minimizing energy usage and aligning to our net-zero carbon goals.”

For its part NTT will deploy its P5G services and data centres with Schneider Electric technologies, including a prefabricated data centre to integrate and test its edge offerings using EcoStruxure solutions. This is expected to be operational in Schneider Electric factories by Q2 of 2022.