LoRaWAN standard is driving Industry 5.0 initiatives

The LoRa Alliance, the global association promoting the LoRaWAN standard for Internet of Things (IoT) and Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs), has shown that the standard is driving industrial evolution towards Industry 5.0. The Industry 5.0 concept is based on Industry 4.0 incorporating the human element, guided mostly by environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.

“The LoRa Alliance has demonstrated over the past years how LoRaWAN helps people, the planet, and profitability. These are fundamental concepts to the Industry 5.0 concept that goes beyond efficiency and productivity as the only goals and reinforces industry’s role and contribution to society through increased human-machine collaboration and human-centric solutions,” says Donna Moore, CEO, and president of the LoRa Alliance.

According to the alliance, companies in all parts of the world are recognising that achieving business goals requires more than operational improvements. People and technology must work together to bring about change. “The LoRaWAN standard is in a leadership position in this area, with millions of deployments that ultimately focus on sustainability and improved quality of life. The evolution towards Industry 5.0 is not possible without the use of open standards, supported by a strong ecosystem that offers choice of vendors and facilitates innovation. This is also why so many organizations around the world are adopting the LoRaWAN standard to drive holistic digitization initiatives,” adds Moore.

The strengths of LoRaWAN are strong security, low-power consumption, battery operation, long-distance transmission, low capital and operational expenditure. “They make LPWAN a leader in the IoT field and the natural choice for Industry 5.0. Mass LoRaWAN deployments pave the way for achieving ESG goals and for Industry 5.0,” adds Moore.

Some recent LoRaWAN deployments are:

• 140,000 Abeeway trackers for workers at a factory in an industrial town in India;

• The Things Industries and Connexin have worked together to create a hybrid network model in Severn Trent, UK, to connect 150,000 water meters that provides data and just-in-time leak detection.

• Milesight  is monitoring air quality in Quebec schools, with nearly 50,000 sensors transmitting 2,600 gateways, adding up to more than 7 million messages daily.

• 360,000 homes in Yorkshire in the UK will have smart water meters using LoRaWAN deployed by Netmore and Connexin.

• 23,000 wireless water sensors have been deployed in the United States by Greenfield Direct.

What is Industry 5.0?

This concept complements the Industry 4.0 approach, putting research and innovation at the service of the transition to a sustainable, resilient and human-centred industry. It brings solutions to societal challenges, including resource conservation, climate change and social stability, ensuring benefits for industry, employees and society.

Empowers workers while addressing evolving skills. It increases industry competitiveness and helps attract the best talent. It is good for the planet by favoring circular production models and supports technologies that make the use of natural resources more efficient.

Reviewing existing value chains and energy consumption practices can also make industries more resilient.

What drives Industry 5.0 initiatives?

• More government monitoring regulations to ensure safety. Such is the case in Nova York City that is monitoring gas leaks in real time using LoRaWAN for monitoring and has reduced the time to make the shutdowns by six times, according to Senet and ProSentry.

• Rapid increase in Property and Casualty insurance premiums in some locations of over 300% since 2017. Water damage is the largest category of loss, contributing to rising rates, totaling $300 billion in claims annually globally. This is driving insurers to adopt a prevention mindset, encouraging building owners and operators to adopt leak detection technologies. Kairos, a member of the LoRa Alliance, reports that its flexible LoRaWAN-based leak detection sensors have eliminated such claims in more than 8,000 flats and recorded a return on investment (ROI) of 6 months on average.

• Resident privacy is also giving impetus to the adoption of LoRaWAN, by enabling monitoring and optimization of facilities without capturing or transmitting any personally identifiable information.

“Our research is consistently showing LoRaWAN on a rapid rise in LPWAN sensor deployments in the smart cities, buildings and utilities sectors and also gaining ground rapidly in manufacturing, agriculture and other sectors. The value provided by LoRaWAN encourages innovation across all sectors,” said Robin Duke-Woolley, CEO and Chief Analyst at Beecham Research.