Enterprise Wi-Fi increases efficiency
At the modern production lines of Borne Türelemente GmbH, doors and frames are manufactured and then stored in fully automated high-bay warehouses. From there, computer-supported picking and shipping take place. Our task was to integrate industrial Wi-Fi into the production environment to enable mobile connectivity for forklifts, including a seamless roaming infrastructure with 0 ms roaming in the Wi-Fi network, as well as the full planning, installation, and commissioning of the hardware.
Challenge
At the main site in Trierweiler-Sirzenich, Borne Türelemente GmbH produces up to 6,000 doors and 5,000 frames per day on a production area of around 80,000 m². This means that one door leaves the factory every nine seconds. Temperatures of up to 40°C under the roof and a complex building structure created challenges for the seamless roaming solution. Forklift terminals for mobile data collection, including Bluetooth handheld scanners and printers, also needed to be connected to the existing server infrastructure with very low latency.
Solution
The seamless roaming Wi-Fi infrastructure originally planned and implemented by Wireless.Consulting GmbH in 2011, which used rugged access points and wireless clients, was expanded with a modern Wi-Fi solution based on the 802.11ac standard across the entire factory site. A key requirement was that the existing mobile Wi-Fi clients remained fully compatible with the new wireless environment. The result fully meets the customer’s expectations. The new company-wide Wi-Fi infrastructure provides seamless connectivity and ensures reliable production processes while increasing productivity. The advantages of wireless networks are especially clear in companies where business success depends on smooth production, picking, and shipping operations. For such companies, time savings and increased productivity through Wi-Fi directly lead to higher efficiency and a strong competitive advantage.
Technology
A key factor in selecting the IT infrastructure was that “the solution should adapt to the company, not the other way around,” according to the management of Borne. Components were selected that allow a high density of Wi-Fi access points by using specific frequency configurations that avoid interference. The use of the 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard ensures long-term compatibility and availability of the hardware. It also allows Wi-Fi clients to move throughout the entire network without roaming interruptions. This enables more efficient production planning and increases overall productivity.
