Cisco Cisco Prime Infrastructure 2.1 Information Guide
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Challenge
As the European market leader, Schmitz Cargobull is one of the largest
manufacturers of trailers and semi-trailers in the commercial vehicle sector. Today it
offers a European-wide network with 43 Schmitz Cargobull Trailer centres and 1500
authorized service partners. The company currently has nine industrial production
sites in Europe and China, and is also active in the Middle East and Western Asia.
manufacturers of trailers and semi-trailers in the commercial vehicle sector. Today it
offers a European-wide network with 43 Schmitz Cargobull Trailer centres and 1500
authorized service partners. The company currently has nine industrial production
sites in Europe and China, and is also active in the Middle East and Western Asia.
Connectivity of people, machines, and applications makes or breaks effective
manufacturing. Production lines, people and data, stock and logistics: every
part of the process chain must be linked together at all times. The integration of
smartphones and tablets, along with other things such as barcode scanners place
even greater demands on WLANs.
manufacturing. Production lines, people and data, stock and logistics: every
part of the process chain must be linked together at all times. The integration of
smartphones and tablets, along with other things such as barcode scanners place
even greater demands on WLANs.
When Schmitz Cargobull, realized its wireless network was no longer capable of doing
the job, it acted quickly to fully integrate all non-connected elements into the WLAN.
the job, it acted quickly to fully integrate all non-connected elements into the WLAN.
There was previously no fail-safe redundancy. So, network crashes forced the
company to revert to paper-based methods. After service was restored, this data had
to be entered onto the system. And, with limited wireless coverage of large outdoor
areas, users had to make repeated log-ins to connect to apps, programs, and storage.
Consequently this added expense.
company to revert to paper-based methods. After service was restored, this data had
to be entered onto the system. And, with limited wireless coverage of large outdoor
areas, users had to make repeated log-ins to connect to apps, programs, and storage.
Consequently this added expense.
“Instead of making our production process more efficient, the wireless network was
slowing it down,” says Andreas Heitkötter, manager for network and PC systems.
“Because we kept losing connections and having to use paper records, we couldn’t
rely on the availability of our data.”
slowing it down,” says Andreas Heitkötter, manager for network and PC systems.
“Because we kept losing connections and having to use paper records, we couldn’t
rely on the availability of our data.”
Solution
Cisco Outdoor Wireless Mesh now provides 100 percent wireless coverage at one of
the company’s main production sites in Altenberge. The solution includes Cisco WLAN
controllers and over 100 access points. Cisco Prime™ management saves time and
costs by making it much easier to run the network.
the company’s main production sites in Altenberge. The solution includes Cisco WLAN
controllers and over 100 access points. Cisco Prime™ management saves time and
costs by making it much easier to run the network.
Customer Case Study
Schmitz Cargobull accelerates business processes by networking production sites, improving
efficiency and customer service quality
Customer Name:
Schmitz Cargobull AG
Industry:
Manufacturing
Location:
Europe, Middle East, and China
Number of Employees:
5100
Challenge
• Achieve 100 percent WLAN coverage
• Optimize SAP applications on
• Optimize SAP applications on
mobile terminals
• Intelligently connect and improve
efficiency of production chain operations
• Reduce IT effort and costs
Solution
• Cisco® Outdoor Wireless Mesh
Results
• Quality of business processes
improved considerably
• Speed of some logistic processes
increased by 50 percent
• Simpler IT management model that can
be easily extended
© 2015 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
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