Relay and Celona have formed a partnership to strengthen communications for frontline workers in industrial environments, with the aim of improving workplace safety and operational efficiency
Celona’s Orion platform combines private 5G and Wi-Fi connectivity across extensive industrial sites, enabling workers using Relay’s system for managing physical operations to stay connected in areas where conventional wireless networks may be unreliable.
Industrial sites, including refineries, factories and warehouses, often present significant connectivity challenges. Large campuses, remote locations and metal-intensive structures can weaken radio signals and limit public cellular coverage. Wi-Fi can also struggle to provide consistent connectivity across expansive indoor facilities and outdoor yards, particularly for mobile workers operating forklifts and other equipment. These gaps can disrupt communications through traditional two-way radios, increasing potential safety risks and making it difficult to maintain a complete record of operational activities.
Celona’s converged wireless platform combines enterprise-grade private 5G with Wi-Fi within an organisation’s network. Relay uses this connectivity to capture and organise spoken observations from frontline workers, converting them into actionable information within existing enterprise systems. Its approach allows workers in noisy industrial settings, including those wearing protective equipment, to communicate through familiar ruggedised push-to-talk radios rather than relying on typing into digital applications.
“Reliable connectivity is foundational to worker safety and productivity, particularly across large industrial environments where traditional wireless technologies can struggle,” said Puneet Shetty, SVP of Product and Field Engineering at Celona. “Together with Relay, we’re extending the benefits of converged wireless to frontline workers, helping maintain critical communications across even the most challenging areas of industrial facilities.”
The partnership aims to provide connectivity throughout industrial facilities while preserving a record of work carried out across operations. Relay devices have been tested on Celona’s network and are ready for deployment. The combined solution also supports real-time translation in 35 languages using AI models developed specifically for manufacturing environments. Panic alerts and location information provide additional tools for worker safety, while recorded observations, handovers and operational decisions help organisations retain information generated during each shift.
"The most important piece of equipment a frontline worker carries is the ability to reach someone. In a plant that's loud, hazardous, and spread across acres, that's the difference between a near-miss and an incident,” said Ibraheem Khalifa, Principal Product Manager, Relay. “Our partnership with Celona helps ensure frontline teams remain not just productive but also safe, no matter where in the facility they’re working.”
Relay and Celona are already being used together at customer sites in the food manufacturing sector.
