Inventec improves manufacturing efficiencies with Azure Private 5G Core

Leading the next generation of manufacturing

Taiwan-based Inventec makes computers, servers, and various other electronics. The company has a global manufacturing footprint with six factories and more than 31,000 employees. It has become increasingly active in cloud computing, wireless communications, intelligent devices, and the Internet of Things (IoT) in recent years. Inventec is now expanding its horizon to 5G private networks and systems integration, starting with transforming its world-class manufacturing sites into 5G-enabled smart factories.

Inventec wanted a solution for its factories that would combine 5G, AI, and IoT to improve productivity, enhance efficiency, and minimize costs. “We wanted a smart factory solution that would be scalable and flexible and support more innovation going forward,” says Evan Chien, Senior Director of Cloud and Communications Solution at Inventec. “We knew we needed a cloud-based solution rather than a traditional IT solution to achieve all of this.” 

The company combined AI and IoT with next-generation wireless technology, or 5G, in a solution based on Microsoft Azure Private 5G Core Preview. In proving the solution at its factories, Inventec discovered a business opportunity for selling the solution to other customers that want to use new technology to boost efficiencies, save costs, and foster continued innovation.

Using data and analytics

Private 5G Core runs on Azure Stack Edge, meaning that it is a deployment of a private 5G core network on an Azure Arc–managed edge platform. With Azure Arc, Inventec can extend the Azure platform to build applications and services in hybrid-cloud mode. Inventec knows that the connection between the edge and cloud is increasingly important for realizing the full potential of highly industrial automation, which needs large amounts of edge computing power for machine learning and decision intelligence.

Inventec selected Private 5G Core as the foundation for its solution in large part because it can easily spin up Private 5G Core together with other Azure AI and IoT services on the same Azure Stack Edge platform at the edge, including services involved with streaming video from its factories and running analytics on its production lines.

“We chose Azure Private 5G Core because of its cloud-native infrastructure. We knew that using the cloud as part of our 5G solution would make it much easier to support our AI and IoT ambitions and continue to modernize by adding more services,” Chien says.

Inventec also deployed a suite of other Azure services for its smart factory solution, including Azure Machine Learning and Azure SQL Edge. Because some Inventec applications need instant processing, the company deploys those locally. It achieves this with a hybrid cloud architecture in Azure, a combination of edge and cloud computing. Using Azure IoT Edge, Inventec quickly deploys cloud-native workloads locally on IoT edge devices.

The company uses these tools together to create real-time quality control for its factories. “With Azure Private 5G Core and connected services in Azure, we can easily adopt capabilities like AI vision to help production line managers work smarter and more efficiently,” Chien says. Inventec deployed Microsoft HoloLens devices on the factory floor to help its technicians troubleshoot equipment failures remotely and guide the equipment operators on how to complete procedures. And it uses IoT cameras to monitor for any abnormalities in the production line, such as bottlenecks or unusual operator changes.

Bringing new benefits to customers

As Inventec deployed its solution to turn its manufacturing facilities into smart factories, the company’s business leaders noticed that few other such mature solutions existed in the market. They realized that Inventec had a strong proof of concept with its internal solution, which they could turn into an external revenue opportunity. Inventec decided to become a provider for smart manufacturing solutions and worked with Microsoft to build 5G, AI, and IoT blended solutions for customers, including other manufacturers.

“We established a 5G line of business, integrating 5G network, AI, IoT, and cloud capabilities into a next-generation, end-to-end solution,” Chien says. “Our goal is to become a branded solution provider and deliver winning 5G solutions, including hardware, products, and services.”

The company’s target customers include smart factories in industries such as electronics systems assembly, raw materials, petrochemicals, and semiconductors, along with other forerunners in adopting 5G, such as smart cities and telecommunications operators. Chien and his 5G team at Inventec have already built several proofs of concept for the Inventec factory in Taoyuan and Taiwan’s National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, along with government technology projects.

Improved efficiency and cost savings

Inventec representatives can speak directly to customers about the benefits that the company has already realized from using its solution to transform its factories. “With Azure Private 5G Core and other Azure services in our smart factories, we save 50 percent on deployment time for our AI and auto optical inspection application, and we save 25 percent on maintenance efforts,” Chien says.

The company closely analyzed video of its production lines, automatically recorded by the cameras, and successfully increased first-pass yield by 27.5 percent. It combined production lines and stops for reinspections, saving an average of 12 percent in reinspection working hours and redirecting 50 percent of its labor force to other work.

“We developed smart surveillance of production lines and machines using Azure Private 5G Core, AI, and IoT,” Chien says. “As a result, we reduced the employee learning curve by 30 percent and increased inspection efficiency by 20 percent.”

Now that Inventec engineers use 5G-enabled smart surveillance for production line management, they identify production issues 32 percent more efficiently. Their ability to quickly find bottlenecks with AI analytics has increased the facilities’ units per hour by 18 percent.

Inventec plans to continue expanding the capabilities delivered by its smart factory solution. The company has begun to explore how it can generate further efficiencies and cost savings by adopting additional infrastructure as a service and platform as a service products in Azure.

Sparking more innovation

Inventec is eager to apply its experience and help customers set up proven, end-to-end solutions to advance their smart factories or smart technology ambitions. The company points to the benefits for customers when they can take advantage of Inventec’s firsthand experience paired with technical expertise from Microsoft. 

“Inventec has a strong reputation in the market for servers and electronic products, but we are still establishing our name in the 5G solution market,” Chien says. “By working with Microsoft and its comprehensive product portfolio, from cloud applications and 5G to edge computing, AI, and IoT services, we bring an established name and even more value to what we offer customers.”

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