Telia trial uses virtual private 5G network, AWS edge computing

Telia Company AB announced an innovative video-recognition solution that aims to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the services provided by Transval Group (Transval), the Finnish market leader in outsourcing logistics and the largest intralogistics house in the Nordics, part of Posti Group. The new solution replaces the need for manual physical inventory counts and reconciliations by automatically tracking and reporting on the movement of inventory.

The project started as a proof of concept in an outsourced warehouse managed by Transval on behalf of one of its customers. HD cameras were connected via a virtual private network to Telia’s data center in Helsinki, using Amazon SageMaker to build, train and deploy a machine learning (ML) model to recognize customer-specific pallets and track their movement in and out of the production buffer maintained by Transval on behalf of its customer. The buffer is used to adjust for variations in the production process, ensuring that the production line continues to run smoothly.

This use case could not have been developed if Telia had not invested in its 5G and modernized 4G networks, as well as in upskilling 10% of employees on Amazon Web Services and cloud technologies to enable faster innovation cycles and meet new customer demands. The ML model calculates the number of pallets in a given area, reports how much free space is left in each stack and tracks the movement of pallets from one stack to another, revealing an accurate picture of inventory levels in real time. Previously, this was a manual process characterized by counts and recounts that was prone to human error. Telia created an application programming interface that Transval used to develop an application that has been installed on its mobile devices, enabling employees to easily receive alerts from the ML model while moving around the warehouse. By ensuring that inventory counts match the actual amount of inventory in the warehouse, the ML model prevents shortages that could otherwise bring the customer’s production line to a halt.

Enterprises have been focused on creating a differentiated end-user experience by harnessing the power of data generated by customers and IoT devices. By harnessing AWS services and the AWS ISV Accelerate Program, Telia is able to help enterprises build such end-user applications in-house. In addition, through AWS Outposts, as well as AWS Local Zones and Availability Zones, these applications can extend from the cloud to the factory floor while leveraging Telia’s high-capacity, high-speed 5G networks. By standardizing the development of this new solution for Transval, Telia will enable other customers to achieve improved levels of automation and production optimization and accelerate the adoption of future ultra-low-latency use cases.

Rainer Deutschmann, Group Chief Operating Officer at Telia Company, says: “Our collaboration with AWS to deploy our private networks offering combined with the cloud delivers simplicity, improved operational efficiency and the opportunity to quickly develop new initiatives to meet market needs. It’s about achieving scale and prioritizing security while reducing complexity, to the benefit of our customers and, ultimately, end users in our markets.”

Fabio Cerone, Managing Director for the EMEA telco industry at AWS, says: “Real-time and high-fidelity experiences like warehouse logistics and supply chain require security and low latency. Leveraging AWS edge services and machine learning services, Telia was able to build, deploy, and manage a ML model and tailored private network to support Transval’s real-time needs. This is an example of how AWS is supporting communication services providers to leverage their 5G networks and expertise to deliver new value to their customers.”

Riku Koskimaa, Senior Manager of Business Development at Transval, says: “The solution developed by Telia and powered by AWS has increased our ability to access real-time information about buffer inventory levels in our warehouse. As a result, it has become much easier to ensure that our delivery buffer levels are as agreed with our customer and according to our KPI targets. By visually tracking buffer levels and providing real-time updates, we ensure that our customers have the items they need in their buffers at all times.”

CT Bureau