FEATURE Smart factories & AI
Raise a glass to WLAN coverage
solutions for manufacturing and warehouse environments. Allied Telesis deployed a small Proof of Concept based on three WAPs and trial licensing for Vista Manager EX, Autonomous Wave Control (AWC), and AWC-CB for Channel Blanket. Kingsland Drinks then built a test network, deployed it around different parts of the business, and monitored the performance and stability and feedback from the staff.
Kingsland Drinks has replaced an ailing and ineffective WLAN with an Allied Telesis solution to improve productivity and prepare for future company growth
K
ingsland Drinks is a premier independent UK supplier of bulk wine and spirits. The company offers services
including contract packing, bottling, distribution, product creation, and flavour development, catering to retailers and brands. It bottles the wine and spirits on site and distributes these products to customers throughout the UK.
The company has seven automated
production lines with extensive capability operating 24/7. The production environment has a high reliance on the IT infrastructure to monitor and manage the movement of stock within the enormous facility. A robust IT environment is critical to supporting current operations as well as furthering company growth.
Brian Polkinghorne is the IT Manager at Kingsland Drinks. “We installed a Wi-Fi system a few years ago to complement our new business system. The intention was that all forklift drivers would have a handheld scanner and be able to move stock around by scanning it in from one location to another. Plain and simple, the Wi-Fi failed us. As a result, forklift drivers had to dismount to go find a PC and enter information manually. That cost us a crazy amount of time in manhours just moving stock about the site.” The failing WLAN also led to an inordinate number of IT
40 October 2024 | Automation
helpdesk requests and damage to the IT group’s reputation. This loss of productivity was costing them money, so the company engaged Holker IT, a leading supplier of business- aligned IT solutions and services, to design and install a better WLAN architecture. The main requirements were it needed to provide site-wide coverage with no dead spots. This included multiple large warehouses, production halls, outdoor areas for loading/unloading trucks, and office and meeting spaces. The new network had to be reliable, stable, and offer high performance for the handheld terminals and higher speed devices. The on-site IT department also needed a management platform which would provide the ability to see a visual representation of the network, the traffic and performance of the WLAN, and the devices which were connected at any given time. The ability to remotely monitor, manage, and troubleshoot the network was also vital. Holker proposed a meeting with Allied Telesis to discuss a potential solution. Allied Telesis took the time to demonstrate the concept of its unique Channel Blanket technology and Hybrid Wireless Infrastructure to show the hypothetical benefits and performance. Channel Blanket provides the ability to design and deploy highly resilient WLAN
Following the success of the test phase, Kingsland Drinks awarded the project to Holker IT. Allied Telesis Sales and Pre- Sales experts worked alongside Holker to provide technical advice, with Holker being ultimately responsible for the successful design, planning, implementation, and ongoing support of the new network. The WLAN solution using Allied Telesis components provides much greater coverage across the site, with no dead spots being reported by users and monitoring software showing good coverage in all required areas. What’s more, the network is much more stable with virtually no handheld terminal disconnects or issues reported. The IT team has much more confidence in the WLAN, with reporting and management helping them to understand how the network is performing and easily making changes where required. Productivity is significantly increased,
production managers are happier, efficiency targets are being met, and the users operating the forklift trucks and handheld terminals are happier as they have a smooth, seamless experience. “The feedback from the users has been very positive,” reports Farai Mugwagwa, Systems Analyst at Kingsland Drinks. “Forklift drivers say they stay connected from one side of the site to the other side, which is very useful, especially if we have loads coming from one warehouse to another.”
CONTACT:
Allied Telesis
www.alliedtelesis.com
automationmagazine.co.uk
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