Vertical: Manufacturing
Application: Connected workers, robotics and AI-powered inspection, predictive maintenance, SAP ERP connectivity, warehouse inventory management
Ecosystem: NTT DATA, Boston Dynamics
Private Network: 5G
Cargill, one of the world’s largest food and agricultural companies, has deployed NTT DATA’s private 5G network across 50 of its manufacturing and processing facilities globally, with the initiative launched in March 2025 and plans to add more than 100 sites per year going forward. The rollout spans large-scale agricultural processing plants and food manufacturing facilities, the majority in the United States, with additional live deployments in Europe and further regions under consideration. For a company operating more than 1,100 facilities worldwide, many of them built decades ago, establishing reliable wireless connectivity on the plant floor has been a persistent operational challenge – and the answer, it turns out, is not Wi-Fi.
In the manufacturing environment, conventional wireless networks struggle to maintain consistent performance. Private 5G, distinct from both traditional Wi-Fi and public cellular, provides high-performance, low-latency connectivity across complex industrial footprints where wired networks are impractical and radio signals are routinely disrupted by heavy machinery and structural obstacles. Robert Greiner, Cargill’s Director of Platform Engineering for Customer, Commercial and Business Operations Digital Technology, put it plainly: “In the manufacturing environment, when you get outside of what I call a carpeted space, connectivity becomes an issue.” One private 5G access point, he noted, can cover the same area as roughly nine Wi-Fi access points, and while the equipment itself may cost more, installations yield a 70% reduction in cabling and setup costs.
The network provides Cargill with reliable, low-latency connectivity to smartphones and tablets on factory floors, supporting workers who need real-time access to enterprise applications and operational data. That matters especially now, as Cargill is in the midst of rolling out SAP S/4HANA across its facilities. Some of Cargill’s smaller warehouses had previously operated with no connectivity at all – workers tracked inventory with pen and paper. The private 5G deployment made it possible to bring those sites onto an electronic inventory and warehouse management system for the first time.
Beyond connecting workers and enabling ERP access, the network is opening the door to more ambitious automation. At Cargill’s Amsterdam facility, the company has deployed Boston Dynamics’ Spot, an AI-powered quadruped robot that automates visual inspections and monitors for hazards such as equipment overheating, operating in areas that are difficult or dangerous for human workers to access. The robot follows a preset path through the facility, building a database of what normal operating conditions look like – vibration levels, air quality, temperature – so that deviations can be identified over time. These operations depend on the private 5G network to transmit high-definition video and telemetry data in real time, with edge computing enabling inference close to the data source rather than routing everything through a distant cloud.
Security and network control are also central to the case for private 5G. Because private networks authenticate at the SIM level rather than relying on passwords, access can be tightly controlled in ways that Wi-Fi cannot match. And unlike public cellular, where a nearby surge in consumer traffic – a school bus pulling up outside a rural plant, for example – can degrade performance at a critical moment, private 5G delivers guaranteed, predictable bandwidth that operations teams can rely on.
Parma Sandhu, Vice President of Enterprise 5G Products and Services at NTT, described Cargill’s approach as building for the long term rather than solving for a single problem. “Instead of building networks for individual applications, the company deployed connectivity across facilities so multiple use cases – connected worker, robotics, sensors, inspections, and worker tools – can run on the same network,” Sandhu said. “That approach allows new capabilities to be added over time without rebuilding the underlying connectivity.”
Shahid Ahmed, Global Head of Edge Services at NTT DATA, framed the broader significance of the deployment: “As manufacturing organizations expand the use of physical AI and intelligent automation, reliable and secure connectivity becomes foundational to digital transformation. Cargill is demonstrating how Private 5G can bring technology and operations together in environments where traditional networks fall short, while improving safety, agility and performance.” NTT DATA introduced its enterprise private 5G platform in 2021, and the Cargill program represents one of the more substantial multi-site deployments to emerge from that offering, with the company planning to continue expanding the footprint through 2026 and beyond.
