How Two Way Radio Is Evolving in the Smart Industrial Age

Phil Black - PII Editor 11/01/2018

1,688 3 minutes read

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It is an exciting time to be involved in industry. According to many analysts, we are now living through the fourth great wave of industrial innovation. Following on from the breakthroughs achieved with steam power, electrical power and computerised automation, Industry 4.0 is defined mainly by the potential being unlocked by digital technology.

There are numerous different strands to the new technologies reshaping the industrial landscape. End-to-end process integration via cloud-based software services is revolutionising business management, making decision making and coordination more streamlined and dynamic.

Networked sensors linked up into the Internet of Things (IoT) are transforming the boundaries of automation, coinciding with Big Data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning to make process management smarter and more agile than ever previously possible.

Another important strand is communication. Powered by mobile technology, digital communications are changing the patterns of how people work, allowing effective collaboration to take place even when people are in different locations and enabling a more flexible approach to working hours.

These are trends which will be increasingly seen in the process industries as the digital revolution picks up speed. People have increasingly played a monitoring, coordination and maintenance role in manufacturing since the arrival of automation.

As more and more processes are run autonomously by networked machines, which self-diagnose performance issues and use data from end-to-end ERP platforms to plan logistics and output, the need for staff to be onsite simply to watch the machines work will diminish.

The key will be how people are able to interact with these smart systems. We tend to think of communications in human-to-human terms. But with the arrival of the IoT, human-to-machine communication is rising in prominence.

Think of those smartphone apps which allow you to take a thermostat reading and turn your heating on remotely. The equivalent application in industry will be how businesses can safely and securely manage and monitor digital production systems from any device.

This will enable more flexible working patterns to emerge in industry, allowing people to focus on value-added activities in research, development, sales and service.

The future of two way radio

The most common communication tool on the factory floor has long been the two-way radio. Two way radio is very well suited to maintaining reliable lines of communication between people in busy, possibly dangerous industrial environments.

Because it creates a local network between handsets, it guarantees a call always gets through when you need it. Audio is optimised for high levels of background noise, and compared to mobile phones, two way radio handsets are tough and durable for heavy use.

But if the days of needing to send out works tickets to teams on a busy shop floor are slipping away, will two way radio continue to have a role to play?

Manufacturers like Motorola are far from blind to the changes taking place in the process industries, and how that impacts on communications needs. With the development of digital two way radio, they have started to create models that are as adept at data communications as they are voice.

For example, the Motorola DP4400e includes all the key features associated with an industrial-class two way radio model – high quality intelligent audio and noise cancellation, options for group and private calling, work tickets and dispatch modes, and safety alert and monitoring functions like Lone Worker and Man Down.

But it also includes advanced data connectivity features, such as integrated WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 and beacon tracking support. With these features, the DP4400e is ready for human-to-machine communications – taking status updates from IoT sensors as staff move around the factory, providing a comms link to cloud-based system applications so personnel can trigger alerts or override processes manually.

Connected to the wider IT infrastructure via WiFi, two way radio models like the DP4400e are also able to communicate with PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones, playing a role in a much larger, more flexible communications network.

The digital age will result in much tighter alignment of data, processes and communication in all walks of business and industry. Two way radio is evolving to play its role.

To find out more about the very latest in two way radio technology, please visit the Brentwood Communications website, or why not give us a call on 0808 271 3606 to talk to one of our friendly consultants.