The smart factory is simultaneously one of the most talked-about, and most challenging sectors for 5G. Visions of digital twins, advanced robots and autonomous trucks often fade when confronted with the long replacement cycles for factory equipment and the heavy incumbency of wired robots and even optimized low latency WiFi. There is still a deathly silence about 5G at many manufacturing conferences – earlier this year, there was stark contrast between the chatter about smart factories at Mobile World Congress (MWC) and the lack of interest in 5G at a similarly large manufacturing show, the Hannover Messe. Even Qualcomm urged caution recently. Gerardo Giaretta, head of Industry 4.0 at the chip company, said recently that 5G would affect the Industrial…