Teltech Group, a provider of logistics/supply chain services, asset management and technology solutions, is deploying private wireless network coverage through Betacom’s 5G as a Service to automate its 200,000 square-foot warehouse in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area.
The warehouse will also become a showcase for warehouse automation and Industry 4.0 IoT capabilities, with recent advances in warehouse automation including robots, drones, and automated forklifts enabled by private 4G and 5G technology, according to Betacom, which deployed a similar network for the Digital Manufacturing Institute and the National Center for Cybersecurity in Manufacturing (MxD) in Chicago earlier this year.
As in that earlier deployment, Betacom partner Airspan provided the underlying radio access network (RAN). In that case, officials from both Betacom and Airspan suggested that private wireless networks with a path to 5G were about to change the game for industrial IoT deployments in which sensors and wireless connectivity combine to support a new generation of applications. Private wireless networks have been available for years, but 5G enables greater bandwidth and latency for industrial applications than other options like Wi-Fi, and federally-allocated spectrum has allowed for more dedicated and secure private wireless networks.
“We all know that Wi-Fi is not the ultimate warehouse communications solution, especially when high security and low latency needs are taken into account,” said Danny Wade, Chief Operating Officer for Teltech. “A private 4G/5G network is a more secure and efficient environment for the work that we do to support our own customers.”
Teltech consolidated four Dallas/Fort Worth-area warehouses into a single warehouse in 2020, developing the entire space and supporting systems from scratch. The Betacom private 4G/5G network supports the company’s NetSuite Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and enables enhanced scanning capabilities that greatly increase efficiencies in material receiving, order fulfillment and shipping.
“Using private 4G/5G, we are able to use the proper device applications for automated cycle counting of our inventory,” said Wade. “This provides a huge relief to us at the warehouse resource level. With private wireless, we are able to retain the accuracy we need in our inventory levels, without allocating costly and hard-to-acquire human resources, allowing us to keep them more focused on higher-performing functions.”
Teltech provides a wide array of services, ranging from warehousing and third party logistics solutions (3PL) to solar power system development, talent resourcing and, recently, tethered drones that provide broadband in hard-to-reach places. With customers including government entities, commercial organizations, tribal nations, WISPs, and tier 1 telecommunications carriers, its resources under management are many and varied so the systems required to track and enable their movement and deployment are increasingly sophisticated.
The company is Native American and woman-owned, and according to Betacom the private network capability also will be central to Teltech’s efforts to help regional tribal nations bridge the digital divide, a focused initiative for Lisa Hanlon-Knight, Teltech CEO for and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.
“Many people think of the tribal nations as well-funded by casinos, but those are just a very, very small group within tribal nations overall,” said Hanlon-Knight. “Most lack the funding to leverage technology to build something sustainable and bring workforce development and jobs back to their communities, despite a lot of available public funding. Tribal support for building out private networks, not just in the tribal lands but also municipalities, will help them retain their citizens and accelerate workforce development through education and training.”
“Teltech is leading the way in adoption and promotion of advanced technologies enabled by private wireless, increasing their own efficiencies while empowering others to do the same through ongoing awareness and education,” said Johan Bjorklund, CEO of Betacom. “I am very proud of the work we are doing together and look forward to working with them to bring more people to a clear understanding of the benefits of automation that will lead to the realization of Industry 4.0.”