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| The Fluidmesh wireless solution came in at a fraction of the cost and with very little disruption to the customer |
Franklin Industries in Franklin, PA is a mill that re-rolls used rails from the railroad and heats them to roll a wide variety of products. The company turned to Treese Communications Inc. to add computers and link four new locations to their existing data network.
Challenge:
The plant had been there since 1901 so implementing new wiring would not be an easy task. After looking at the site, it became apparent to Treese that adding fibre would be very costly because of the age and layout of the plant. Railroad tracks and roads between the buildings needed to be linked to the network. Adding fibre to these locations would require poles and trenching long distances under railroad tracks in a heavily travelled area. This route would have been very disruptive and costly to their business.
Solution:
Brian Nelson, an engineer from Graybar worked together with Bill Treese of Treese Communications to develop a solution that would satisfy the expectations of the customer. Given the layout of the site and the cost of running fibre, Bill and Brian concluded that a Fluidmesh wireless solution would be the best way to go. The solution, Bill reports, came in at a fraction of the cost and with very little disruption to the customer.
Project description at a glance:
Franklin Industries' network is made of fibre from the office building to the plant. Treese extended the fibre to one office and from there installed a Fluidmesh wireless network to extend the network infrastructure using a combination of FM2200 Duos and FM1100s in a point to multipoint fashion. The Fluidmesh network was installed and up and running within a week. Prior to this project, Bill Treese had not worked with wireless networks, but after taking the Fluidmesh training, felt confident on completing this project to the customer's satisfaction. Bill reports that: "Fluidmesh provided outstanding tech support. Everyone at Treese Communications is very excited about their technology and support and we have more projects in mind very well suited to the Fluidmesh solution."
Eugenio Bayo, Fluidmesh Regional Sales Manager for the territory, adds: "The data network connectivity at Franklin Industries was a challenge because of its environment and the very tight time constraints of the project. Thanks to impeccable teamwork between Graybar, Treese Communications, and Fluidmesh, we were able to deliver the solution in a record time of one week from the day that the project was first designed. The final result is a state-of-the-art wireless IP backhaul solution."
Keeping the customer satisfied remains the ultimate goal and, together with Fluidmesh, Treese Communications did precisely that. Debbie Neal of Franklin Industries adds that: "Franklin is now able to communicate through its entire company with wireless networking. We weren't able to connect our plants together electronically due to the cost of a fibre system, but with the help of Treese Communications we are now online. Our company is now able to expedite paperwork into paperless communication and is on its way to breaking down barriers."
