High-quality communication at Ceramika Paradyż sp. z o.o.

Benefits of the implementation:

Ceramika Paradyż Sp. z o.o. is a family company founded in 1989, a leader and a leading manufacturer of ceramic tiles in Poland and a showpiece of the Polish industry worldwide. Starting from the very beginning of its activity, it fuels pattern-designing, by creating and supplying high-quality innovative products with a unique design. The company has close to 1,500 employees and its facilities include five cutting-edge manufacturing plants and a high-tech, fully automated high-storage warehouse. The product collections of Ceramika Paradyż are complementary, offering their customers many formats of wall and floor tiles, clinker, glass decorations, and decorative elements. Ceramika Paradyż is also a longstanding Patron of Łódź Design Festival, the largest event devoted pattern-designing in this part of Europe, and a co-initiator of the campaign to improve aesthetics in urban space. The company received the most prestigious awards in the area of design and economy, including Dobry Wzór, iF Design, Red Dot Design Award, and also the Economic Award of the Polish President and the Annual Award of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

Knowing that this is going to be a large-scale implementation this time, SKK employees carried out a comprehensive audit. The measurements indicated and confirmed incorrect operation of the wireless network, including the going stale of network devices and accessories. What is more, the devices were no longer supported by the manufacturer.

The solution used originally was the centrally managed wireless mesh topology network. This kind of solution was also retained for the current implementation. Whereas all devices, i.e. access points, and accessories, i.e. antennas, cables, connections, and power supplies, were replaced.
The described solution and activities undertaken as a matter of modernisation of WLAN were identical in all manufacturing plants. The area covered by the implementation was slightly expanded and considered primarily outdoor storage yards as well as warehousing and manufacturing rooms and the office.

The existing Cisco access points were replaced by devices of the latest series the same manufacturer. Thereby, the wireless network was migrated to the latest standard 802.11ac. A series of access points with integrated antennas was used for the offices. In the manufacturing halls and warehouses, access points with integrated antennas and extra protection in the form of housing were installed. In turn, to cover the storage yards with a radio signal, access points intended for outdoor operation were used, some with internal and some with external antennas. There were ca. 140 new access points provided to three plants altogether. To use them, it was necessary to update the software of the network controllers held by the company. Following this update, the controllers are compatible with all new access points.

The implemented 802.11 ac wireless network standard provides very high transmission speeds, and its latest functionalities result in efficient and failure-free device operation. On the other hand, the spectrum analyser built into the access points causes their automatic response to changing environmental conditions. The modern network implemented in three plants ensures greater security and its better quality generally.
It is worth mentioning that the entire implementation were taking place in non-invasive way in relation to the company functioning. Therefore, the work of SKK specialists did not cause any downtime in the network operation, which was one of the requirements of Ceramika Paradyż.