Smiths Manufacturing, the New Germany (KwaZulu-Natal)-based manufacturer of automotive components, including aftermarket air-conditioners under the DunAir brand, has embarked on an upgrade to its information technology (IT) infrastructure.
Central to this has been an upgrade to its corporate-wide computer network, which has been redesigned in association with networking vendor 3Com SA. The 350-user network has been given a significant speed boost, explains Smiths` IT projects consultant, Mark van Elden.
"Our network, which services both our Progress Road and Pineside Road factories, was becoming out of date, particularly in the face of upgrades to our software systems to accommodate new-generation advances in many of the applications - such as CAD/CAM.
"In addition, e-mail and Internet applications were installed and faster connection times were demanded by our users to handle rapidly increasing traffic volumes," he says.
"We decided to work with 3Com to plan an upgrade to our conventional shared-user network, which in many instances was operating at no faster than a pedestrian 10 megabits-per-second [Mbps]."
Van Elden says high traffic areas, such as the administration block, the engineering department and certain factory areas were earmarked for an upgrade to 100Mbps.
"In addition, we introduced a 1GB switched backbone architecture to the core of the network to give us the platform for the upgrades to other areas," he says.
With an eye on optimising Smiths` investment in its IT infrastructure, network hubs and certain switches that were replaced at the network`s core were relocated and redeployed at the network`s edge where they are able to cope with the reduced traffic load and still offer excellent service to users with fewer capacity-related demands.
One of the immediate benefits of the upgrade, notes Van Elden, came in the form of significantly faster backups.
"We run 3Com`s network management and monitoring software which reveals just how much the performance and capacity of the network has increased," he says. "The network is idling at present, which has allowed us to better utilise the personnel who were responsible for this aspect of our operation."
Smiths is planning for significant expansion in both its manufacturing capability and administration requirements in the short-term. "We believe the current network infrastructure will be able to meet our needs for the next four years while providing an upgrade path that will remain in place for the foreseeable future," adds Van Elden.
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