Zenitel and BNSC announce contribution to Caofedian, China's largest steel plant

The Shougang Group, Caofeidian Coal Wharf and the Ore Wharf are all customers of Zenitel

Zenitel, international market leader in integrated communication solutions for the professional market, is pleased to confirm its contribution to Caofeidian, mapped to become China's largest steel production base by 2010. Uniquely, the site has been designated as a model for the country's environment friendly industrial base and is set to recycle 99.5 percent of its solid waste and 99.7 percent of all waste water. 

With many companies moving to Caofeidian all the time, the Chinese steel giant Shougang is one of many who will enjoy the new environmentally friendly site focused on new business. The Shougang Group will be taking big steps to stimulate sustainable development in China, and by 2010 all of its steel-related sectors will have moved out of Beijing.

The Shougang Group, Caofeidian Coal Wharf and the Ore Wharf are all customers of Zenitel and joint venture company BNSC (Beijing Nera Stentofon Communication Equipment Co.). Recently, the project of Caofeidian Digital Port will be completed by BNSC and one other with BNSC acting as the leading company. The project of Caofeidian Digital Port adopted a wireless dispatch communication system based on the STENTOFON AlphaCom E-communication system from Zenitel. Arguably one of the most powerful and flexible communication platforms on the market, this technologically advanced IP solution offers a scalable and affordable security solution to companies looking to implement or slowly upgrade to IP technology. In the wireless installation, AlphaCom E was easily integrated to McWiLL (Multi-carrier Wireless Internet Local Loop), a Chinese-developed mobile broadband wireless access standard, and a perfect solution for extremely wide area coverage.

Zenitel has implemented new IP products and exchanges called STENTOFON AlphaCom E

Caofeidian Ore Wharf, a RMB (renminbi) 2.94 billion (EUR 324 million) project capable of carrying 20 million tons of crude oil per year, has been using a STENTOFON paging and communication system since December 2005. More than 100 stations and 50 loud speakers operate alongside the crude oil berth and oil tank area powered by a single STENTOFON AlphaCom 138 analogue exchange and eight AlphaCom M exchange systems. As the system allows for future evolutionary steps, the transition to IP will be an easy one.   

With a reputation for providing the most flexible, reliable and superior quality, hands-free communication systems available today, in recent years, whilst providing ongoing support for their traditional analogue product like AlphaCom, Zenitel has implemented new IP products and exchanges called STENTOFON AlphaCom E. Application of this technology provides the most modern transport mechanism for linking systems in AlphaNet (network of AlphaCom exchanges) whilst providing backward compatibility for existing projects to maximise traditional customer investments. The new VoIP platform and the other solutions in the range also support SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) to provide a common interface, opening up new opportunities and markets, and confirming Zenitel's leading position in the security and industry field.

Caofeidian's Coal Wharf, the area responsible for transporting coal from western to eastern China, and eventually from northern to southern China, saw these benefits and commissioned a STENTOFON AlphaCom E Paging and Communication system. It operates alongside a second wireless Paging and Communication system using McWiLL/SCDMA main broadband wireless access technology. Both projects are newly completed and each run around 200 STENTOFON stations.

Elsewhere in the Caofeidian industrial zone, Zenitel's joint venture company BNSC has undertaken six further projects for the Shougang Group. Located right across the site, STENTOFON AlphaCom E powers a Paging and Communication system at the coke oven plant, at the iron material stack, at the pudding furnace and at other locations. An automatic PA system empowered by BNSC can also be found alongside the iron material stack.   

Zenitel's joint venture company BNSC has undertaken six further projects for the Shougang Group

As a 52 percent shareholder of the whole site, Shougang knows better than most that environments that deal with extremes of noise, temperature, dust and corrosion require unquestionably reliable communication. These demanding and dangerous industrial environments benefit from alternate routing between the exchanges which allows calls to complete, even if one route is used to its full capacity or a link is inadvertently broken. Operational communications is critical for the smooth running of a world class iron and steel production base like Caofeidian's: employees cannot reply on communication systems that almost always work, it simply must work - always - and be a resource they can trust unconditionally. With fast and reliable set up, every STENTOFON call gets through. High quality audio allows for efficient short communication further reducing stress and workload due to misunderstood messages.

Overall, Shougang and its shareholding partners have adopted cutting edge technologies throughout all of its processes in order to make Caofeidian a flagship in the industry. Zenitel and BNSC are proud to contribute their communication and security systems offering unparallel functionality and audio quality and assisting the transfer of the growth pattern of the steel industry.