MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
Ruckus Wireless, Inc. (NYSE: RKUS), a global supplier of advanced wireless systems for the rapidly expanding mobile Internet infrastructure market, has won a major contract to re-equip the premises and hardware infrastructure at transport and logistics company Canute Group.
With more than 50,000 pallet locations across twelve sites, Canute Group chose its Purfleet headquarters in Essex for a vital upgrade to its existing Wi-Fi infrastructure. The company called in enterprise wireless network consultants Nexus Globalnet, who recommended Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi equipment to provide the connectivity to meet its needs.
Canute Group helps deliver goods to industries as diverse as construction, engineering, industrial, retail and agriculture. Its success lies in its reputation for reliability and speed of service. Over the years it has developed a bespoke service to include online ordering, with transparency on real time stock positions, order management and warehouse logistics operations.
Mark Longhurst, ICT Manager at Canute Group said: "Warehouse environments are complex and our previous warehouse solution was not providing the connectivity we needed. In order to provide real-time stock positions for management and staff, we needed our hand-held scanners to connect to a reliable wireless network.
"In addition, we needed three separate networks for the scanner operators, staff and guests. As a result, we looked for a solution that allowed for roaming and multiple SSID networks."
In addition to stock control in its main warehouse building, the new installation had to provide secure LAN extensions to a new warehouse facility, under construction up to 100m away from the head office, without the need for expensive leased line infrastructure.
Nexus Globalnet installed a Ruckus Wireless Smart Wi-Fi network, include a combination of Ruckus ZoneFlex™ 7731 long-range 802.11n (5 GHz) point-to-point outdoor access points (APs), and Ruckus ZoneFlex 7363 high performance 802.11n mid-range indoor APs, both featuring patented Ruckus BeamFlex™ adaptive antenna technology. The network utilises a Ruckus ZoneDirector™ management platform, to centrally control and monitor service delivery and performance.
Wil Currie, Technical Director at Nexus Globalnet said: "Getting Wi-Fi to function as it’s supposed to in warehouse environments can be next to impossible. Between huge areas filled with metal racks, we have multiple handheld Wi-Fi devices, moving vehicles, constantly changing environmental conditions and no pervasive Ethernet network, so reliable connectivity is an enormous challenge.
"Ruckus BeamFlex provided us with automatic interference avoidance, whilst Ruckus SmartMesh™ Networking provided more flexible deployment options, making Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi uniquely suited for an interference-filled complex environment like this. All the scanner traffic is now tunnelled and optimised for seamless roaming."
Mark Longhurst, ICT Manager at Canute Group, concluded: "Ruckus Wireless has enabled us to cost-effectively connect up our warehouses with high performance, reliable Wi-Fi. With its smart traffic segregation, different security aspects and multiple SSIDs, we are now looking to roll out Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi technology to our other warehouses up and down the country."
