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Private 5G: from a blank sheet to an industrial gamechanger
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We needed a network that would never fail our safety or operations. Private 5G proved to be the backbone that connects everything: securely and reliably.
Our expert
Who is Willy?
Willy Duric is a telecom and civil engineer with more than thirty years of experience in the field. Early in his career, he contributed to challenging projects, including the construction of a car factory in Belgium and the rollout of pan-European internet networks across eighty cities in thirty countries. Since 2010, Willy has been part of Pauwels Consulting, where he has overseen a wide range of telecom projects, including major assignments at Proximus. There, he gained experience across nearly all departments, which gave him a broad perspective on both technology and operations.
Today, Willy focuses on Private 5G. At a leading company in the Port of Antwerp, he spearheaded the rollout of one of the very first industrial Private 5G networks in Europe.
What do you do when existing networks fall short of the safety, scale, and complexity requirements of an industrial site?
On a vast chemical site in the Port of Antwerp, with dozens of production units, strict safety standards, and thousands of devices that need to stay permanently connected, the answer was found in a fully dedicated Private 5G network.
This case shows how such a network was built entirely from scratch. There was no blueprint, but there was an absolute need for robustness, security, and future readiness. It is not a theoretical story but a real-life case with lessons learned, pitfalls encountered, and practical advice for organizations considering their own journey into Private 5G.
Starting from a blank page
Some projects begin with a detailed playbook. Others start with a blank page. The case I want to share belongs to the latter category. It involved a major chemical company operating on a vast industrial site in the Port of Antwerp with more than fifty production units, strict safety standards, 24/7 operations, ATEX zones, and thousands of devices that had to communicate seamlessly.
The central challenge was clear: how do you build a network that is robust enough for this environment, both today and in the future?
Built for what Wi-Fi can’t handle
Why Wi-Fi and public networks are not enough
The answer to that question was not obvious, because in an industrial environment the rules are clear: reliability comes before speed, security before convenience, and traceability before fancy features. That is why Wi-Fi and public networks were not a solution, especially since we ran into three hard limits in practice:
- Coverage and interference sensitivity
Steel structures, moving cranes, changing layouts, and explosion-prone zones make stable coverage almost impossible.
- Security and control
In critical environments, you do not want to depend on public spectrum or generic policies. You need full control over who has access and where.
- Real-time requirements
Autonomous vehicles, robotic arms, and inspection drones require millisecond latency. Any hiccup can cause downtime or incidents.
Private 5G in practice
From my experience, it was clear that Private 5G was the right answer, because it offers:
Ultra-low latency for real-time responsiveness of vehicles and robotic arms.
High density to connect tens of thousands of sensors simultaneously.
Network slicing to strictly separate safety-critical from less critical data streams.
Full policy control over authentication, QoS, segmentation and logging.
The result? Not “faster internet,” but a digital backbone that makes the organisation future-proof.
My role as a consultant: from complexity to workable simplicity
For 30 years, my job has been translating: from engineering to operations, from technical KPIs to business value, and from theoretical risks to practical measures.
In this project, three core tasks stood out:
1. Turning monitoring into actionable insights
We started with hundreds of technical KPIs, useful for engineers but meaningless for operators. I filtered and structured them into a layered dashboard, enabling different teams to quickly grasp network performance and act accordingly. Result: less confusion, faster recovery in case of incidents.
2. Translating cybersecurity into operational reality
The client was the first chemical company to roll out a 5G network and had strict internal cybersecurity guidelines. I went through more than 500 checkpoints, assessed the current status, mapped the real risks, and suggested pragmatic solutions. Context was key: not every theoretical risk is operationally relevant. Compliance matters, but prioritisation matters even more.
3. Designing use cases that prove value
A network only has value when it makes an operational difference. From day one we designed concrete use cases, such as:
Asset tracking in high-movement zones
Real-time video for inspections in hazardous areas
Connectivity for autonomous vehicles
These pilots proved that this was not “just new cabling,” but a deeper shift towards better decisions and safer operations.
Challenges we know by heart
Recognizable situations and how we solved them
In every project, familiar challenges tend to resurface. Here’s how I tackled some of the most common ones.
- "Performance drops, but we don’t know where."
Solution: Dashboards that put business impact at the center, with alerts based on effects (e.g. AGV delays) rather than only causes (signal loss in cell X). This way, the analysis starts right where the ‘pain’ is felt.
- “Security is too theoretical; we’re losing time.”
Solution: Risk-oriented mapping per data flow, showing value, threat, and countermeasure. No endless lists, but an audit-ready plan that supports operations.
- “We want everything perfect from day one.”
Solution: Roll out iteratively. Start with critical flows and expand gradually. Private 5G is a platform; trust is built by delivering value step by step.
What experience has taught me
My lessons learned after 30 years in telecom
- Start with the use case, not the specs.
A strong business case naturally pulls the technology in the right direction.
- Show complexity, but in moderation.
Operators need to act; engineers need to optimize.
- Security should be part of the architecture from day one.
Segmentation, identity, logging, and recovery are not add-ons; they are fundamentals.
- Build for change.
Factories evolve, and networks must evolve with them. Choose modular designs and clear naming and tagging.
- Celebrate small successes.
Trust grows step by step.
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Talk to a specialist
Fill out the form below or give Kenneth a call and we’ll help you identify the right wireless infrastructure and mobile tech for your operation.
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Kenneth Van Cleynenbreugel
Business & Talent Consultant Telecom
kenneth.vancleynenbreugel@pauwelsconsulting.com
+32 473 82 26 73
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