IMTS 2024 Exposes the Challenges Facing Industrial Wireless, and without Adaptation, Wireless Vendors Will Struggle to Overcome Them

By Andrew Spivey | 3Q 2024 | IN-7529

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A lot has changed in the industrial wireless connectivity space since the last iteration of the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in 2022. Two years ago, much of the industrial wireless conversation was overshadowed by intense competition between the Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and 5G, with the West's leading telecommunications networking vendors Nokia and Ericsson confidently proclaiming the end of days for WLAN. However, at this year's show, 5G had receded to being just one of many coexisting connectivity options, and neither Nokia nor Ericsson chose to exhibit at the show. Many of the key talking points from 2022 were also conspicuous in their absence, having been neglected in favor of new ones. Technologies to reduce wireless equipment energy consumption, for example, which featured heavily in the messaging of many industrial wireless vendors in 2022, were barely mentioned this time around, with security growing in profile instead. Yet despite the many changes, IMTS 2024 made it abundantly clear that the chasm between the enterprise and the industrial WLAN markets remains just as wide as it was when we highlighted it following IMTS 2022 (see page 15 of IMTS 2022: 11 Key Takeaways). Indeed, many of the enterprise WLAN heavyweights aspiring to expand their presence in the industrial market overlooked the significance of this trade show, just as they had in 2022, and discussions with the broader industrial ecosystem revealed a widespread lack of awareness and understanding of the potential of the latest WLAN technologies. This ABI Insight provides an overview of the main industrial wireless takeaways from IMTS 2024, analyzes their significance, and offers recommendations for how industry players should respond.

Compared to Europe's premier industrial technology show, Hanover Messe (see our takeaways from the 2023 and 2024 shows), IMTS is much more focused on the actual application of technology and on solutions that are available to deploy today (as opposed to future concepts or marketing gimmicks). This makes the trade show the perfect venue to cut through the marketing noise and identify industrial wireless trends that are impacting the market today. One of the realities that this window into the industrial market revealed was a general lack of excitement for the latest WLAN innovations. Few were placing the 6 GHz spectrum at the heart of their messaging, and nobody even considered 802.11be (which is now seeing rapid adoption in the enterprise market). Discussion of converged 5G/WLANs, which dominated the industrial wireless discussion just 18 months ago, was likewise muted. One of the only vendors with much to share was Phoenix Contact, which chose to highlight solutions that could unleash the potential of 5G implemented alongside 6 GHz-enabled 802.11ax. Instead of looking toward the future of WLAN, the vast majority of vendors at IMTS 2024 were stepping sideways, exploring how they can optimize 802.11 for industrial tasks by augmenting the legacy standards with proprietary features. Although proprietary WLAN technologies are often sufficient to address the industry's challenges, the lack of awareness at IMTS 2024 of the next wave of WLAN innovations (even from many of the product managers whose day-to-day business was working with wireless) should concern the industry. This is especially true today, given that many of the latest innovations-spanning everything from 6 GHz and Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) to Wi-Fi sensing, and in the near future, 802.11bn-have so much value to offer industrial facilities. If industrial markets are not harnessing these technologies, then WLAN's abilities will remain hamstrung, and adoption of the technology in industrial environments will stall.

Staying on the topic of proprietary wireless, another notable trend on display at this year's IMTS was the growing prevalence of proprietary Zigbee variants within industrial applications. A noteworthy example was available from the industrial automation vendor SMC Corporation, which was commissioned by a multinational automobile manufacturer to address the high levels of wear and tear that the Ethernet cables installed on its Collaborative Robots (cobots) faced during operation. SMC's solution was a proprietary variant of Zigbee with low 5 Millisecond (ms) latency and automated frequency switching every 2 ms for added security, which was installed at the point-of-use on the end of the cobot arm. This first version offered 5 ms latency, and an updated version designed for a U.K.-based Condensate Polishing Unit (CPU) promises to deliver just 2 ms latency. Avoiding cable wear and tear, alongside reducing network complexity and the floor space cables occupy, remains one of the key drivers of the adoption of all wireless technologies, not just Zigbee, in industrial networks.

Of course, robotics vendors are not sitting on their hands, and many of the industry's leading players were promoting their own technologies for reducing cable abrasion on cobots at IMTS 2024. Notably, KUKA has designed cutting-edge pressure releases that lessen the stress cables face. Developments in cable materials are also enhancing their durability, with suppliers such as Kwangil demonstrating high durability Polyurethane (PUR) ethernet cables on the trade show floor. By alleviating the challenge of cable degradation, these innovations have the knock-on effect of depriving wireless of one of its key selling points in industrial wireless. Although this may not be welcome news for industrial wireless connectivity vendors, it is in alignment with the demands of industrial facilities because, as discussions with industrial automation vendors and network integrators at the show reiterated, if presented with the choice, industrial facilities will invariably stick with wired over wireless due to its perceived greater reliability and security.

The growing traction of Zigbee within industrial sensors was also on display at this year's IMTS. One well-received proprietary Zigbee solution was presented by precision measurement company Mitutoyo, which is turning to Zigbee as a replacement for its traditional wireless connectivity technology of choice, Bluetooth®. Mitutoyo's Zigbee variant, named U-WAVE, has been optimized for secure and reliable data transfer in industrial environments, and by disabling mesh compatibility and reducing the rate of packet transfers, Mitutoyo claims the technology can achieve 3X the range and 4X the battery life of Bluetooth®. Although Mitutoyo views Zigbee as far superior to Bluetooth®, it does admit that many of its customers still request solutions supporting this more familiar technology, and so it maintains a Bluetooth® version of its U-WAVE product line. Indeed, many of the industry's other leading sensor vendors, such as TDK and Digi-Pas, also continue to prioritize Bluetooth® for sensor connectivity, believing that it is sufficient for the task, and has a wider appeal. This highlights another truism that I was constantly reminded of at IMTS 2024-industrial facilities remain resistant to change, are slow to adopt new technologies, and particularly for smaller organizations, prefer tried-and-tested technologies over unfamiliar, new ones.

Although IMTS 2024 exposed many of the challenges facing industrial wireless, fortunately, there are clear steps that the industry can take to address them. They include:

• Advocate for Industrial Wireless: The industrial wireless industry, particularly industry bodies, must do a better job of conveying the value of the latest WLAN advancements to industrial markets. They should start by expanding their presence at industrial events such as IMTS, and conducting trials that demonstrate exactly how customers could implement the technologies to solve their challenges.
• Speak the Customer's Language: Marketing that may be successful in enterprise markets doesn't always translate well into industrial markets. Equipment vendors must, therefore, adapt their messaging to ensure that they can connect with their target audience. They must also adjust their value proposition to account for the different demands of industrial markets. For example, this means that service consistency (avoiding disruption and downtime) should be prioritized over the maximum achievable performance (which varies over time, and therefore, is not dependable).
• Focus on Technologies That Move the Needle: Not all WLAN innovations are relevant for industrial markets. For example, as discussed at length in ABI Research reports on the industrial WLAN market (see Industrial WLAN Infrastructure Opportunities and Challenges), there is a general consensus that 802.11be, with its focus on delivering "extremely high throughput," has not been built for the needs of industrial markets. The WLAN industry should, therefore, focus its messaging on the technologies that will make the most impact on industrial markets, explaining how they will do so. This could include promoting the 6 GHz spectrum's ability to alleviate interference challenges, or how Wi-Fi sensing is well suited for industrial vibration monitoring. The "Ultra High Reliability" focus of 802.11bn, on track for a 2028 certification by the IEEE, will also be extremely valuable for industrial applications, so the industry shouldn't miss the opportunity to generate excitement for this upcoming innovation within the industrial market.