Speed, redundancy and transparency
Setting up a managed SD-WAN for a market-leading supplier of pharmaceutical packaging
Corporate IT is a process that requires the collaboration of multiple stakeholders, especially when it comes to connecting external sites to a primary data center. Typically, the internal IT department works with an IT equipment supplier, a regional partner and an internet service provider (ISP) to connect the sites. With so many parties involved, good communication is essential, as is setting priorities and responsibilities. If you constantly have to tell your provider what you need because they control your entire infrastructure, then the IT team will have a problem if the provider doesn't respond.
And if you produce just in time, every minute counts anyway.
Faller Packaging is a German manufacturer of pharmaceutical and healthcare packaging, such as folding cartons, self-adhesive labels and leaflets. Founded in 1882 by August Faller as a lithographic printing company in Waldkirch, Faller has specialized in the pharmaceutical packaging market since 1992 and today employs 1,300 people at seven locations in Germany, Poland, Denmark and Hungary. Among other things, we offer interactive packaging (QR codes), tamper-evident closures and the production of small and very small batches within 72 hours by our subsidiary PackEx.
"If your ISP controls your entire infrastructure and you have to tell them what you need constantly, your IT team is at a disadvantage."
Initially, we made sure that all IT tasks were centralized in one department. As Chief Information Officer, I am responsible for implementing our IT strategy: driving digital transformation, standardizing IT solutions across the Group, improving internal and external communication and strengthening cyber security to protect patient data. In order to build a centrally designed IT architecture model, it was necessary to find new approaches for our infrastructure and its procurement.
Strict regulations apply to pharmaceutical packaging. Each batch must have a batch number and an expiry date, and each pack must have a serial number for authentication purposes. The package leaflet must contain information on dosage, interactions, risks and side effects in several languages, which must be continuously updated in the event of new clinical studies and patient reports. Our customers also provide us with graphic files and packaging layouts, which requires constant communication between the customer, our head office and the print shop.
Our network lacked visibility and redundancy
I have been with Faller Packaging for 17 years and, as Head of IT Systems, I ensure that all locations can communicate with our primary data center as well as with each other and with our customers. Previously, our IT infrastructure was organized as a hub. Each of our seven locations was connected to the data center in Waldkirch via a separate MPLS network line. There was no redundancy, communication between the production sites was not possible and our internet provider had sole control over our rented lines. Without insight into our own infrastructure, we had no way of predicting or preventing network problems, and our hands were tied in the event of disruptions as we had to wait for our provider to take action.
The situation came to a head when one site had no connection for two whole days. It was not possible to move production to another location, nor did we have the opportunity to inform our customers when the network would be up and running again. Even though it was only a temporary incident, it clearly showed that we had no control over our own infrastructure and our internet provider did not take sufficient responsibility, did not communicate and was not able to restore operations in a timely manner.
It was time to act and we put this important task out to tender for other service providers. Our requirements were clear: SD-WAN connectivity, redundancy and better network visibility. We were looking for a partner to plan, deploy and manage our infrastructure while providing us with sufficient visibility and the ability to monitor the network to ensure our performance standards were met.
Freeing ourselves from an ISP
We received numerous bids in response to our RFP, but RIEDEL Networks offered by far the best solution: industry-established Cisco SD-WAN technology with LTE backup and RIEDEL's own network monitoring tools, which are fully Cisco-compatible.
The clear and comprehensive sales presentation by RIEDEL staff and the expertise of their technicians and engineers also inspired confidence. They were able to demonstrate how the Cisco hardware interacts with the RIEDEL monitoring software to meet the requirement that our production facilities are guaranteed to stay online.
RIEDEL knows how production works and supports our business processes. Unlike other providers, RIEDEL ensures that we are not dependent on the whims of an Internet provider. Although the Cisco SD-WAN also runs via external MPLS network lines and an external LTE infrastructure, RIEDEL's monitoring tools ensure complete transparency over the leased lines. Combined with Cisco's smart routers at our seven sites and our primary data center, the result is a network that is easy to manage and ensures the smooth networking of our business operations with minimal disruption.
A Staggered Multi-Site Deployment
Deployment at multiple locations is often complex and planning-intensive. When our network was migrated from our previous provider to MPLS five years ago, there were significant delays and the go-live date was missed. This time, we had a firm deadline of June 1, 2022. This was because our current MPLS contract ended on that date. RIEDEL took this deadline seriously and aligned the project management accordingly. After an agreement was signed in August 2021 and the equipment was ordered in October, the project was completed at the end of May 2022 - in time for the switchover on June 1.
Our IT team consists of five technicians and one trainee, and we didn't have the skills or the time to set up a new infrastructure. RIEDEL took care of everything: they installed the routers at our seven locations and connected them to the rented MPLS network lines and provided us with the IP addresses and all the other information we needed for the network connections between the individual locations and the data center.
The connection was always made on a site-by-site basis. As soon as a site was connected to the new MPLS network line, the router and network devices were installed in the local server room by the RIEDEL team in parallel with our existing equipment. This phased deployment took place during office hours with no loss of connectivity. The site was then switched over to the new infrastructure and the old setup remained in place for backup purposes in case of any problems. This avoided a big bang, i.e. an outage of the entire network in the event of problems during the changeover.
Within seven months, RIEDEL succeeded in migrating our entire European corporate network to SD-WAN. We were always kept informed about the current status and progress of the project. I admit that I was skeptical at first. Given the numerous setbacks in our previous migration, I expected problems here too. But when RIEDEL reached the first milestone, our confidence grew and we were not disappointed.
Professionalism and a Willingness to Communicate
"Enhanced network visibility allows IT teams to clearly communicate the requirements for fast, uninterrupted service."
Even after our new network went live, RIEDEL is just as professional and open in their communication as before. Their support system is simple and straightforward, and their incident management is outstanding. The RIEDEL technicians resolve faults within minutes or a few hours instead of several days, and there is an LTE-based backup network so that outages are avoided.
Recently, we had a partial network outage when the MPLS line to one of our sites went down. RIEDEL immediately informed my IT team about the problem and started the repair work. This took place in the background, unnoticed by the Faller Packaging employees, who were able to continue working without restrictions via the ERP system and the other production systems.
We can now also monitor our IT infrastructure ourselves, as RIEDEL has installed Cisco SD-WAN sensors that trigger an alert when the MPLS network lines reach 80% capacity. We also have monitoring tools for network traffic and network performance, which show, among other things, which IP addresses, host computers and users are using a lot of bandwidth. Thanks to improved network transparency, we can clearly tell RIEDEL what we need for a fast, uninterrupted service, and we can identify future potential problem areas and discuss solutions.
We recently submitted our first change request to RIEDEL, which included some adjustments to our primary data center. Unlike our previous provider, RIEDEL responded quickly and proactively.
A privileged partnership
RIEDEL has become a valuable intermediary for us for everything concerning our MPLS and LTE partners and other secondary partners. Previously, we had to call our Internet provider and wait a long time for an MPLS service to be restored because we were only a small customer for them. As a service provider, however, RIEDEL has fixed service agreements with these providers and thus acts as an intermediary for its many customers. And Faller Packaging benefits from this privileged treatment. Another advantage is that it frees up my IT department so that we can concentrate on our main tasks, namely supporting our internal end users.
Thanks to RIEDEL Networks, Faller Packaging now has a modern, fully redundant, highly transparent and highly available SD-WAN network that connects our seven European branches and 1,300 employees. From the head office to the factory floor to the warehouse, our people are now equipped for dynamic production with quotas to be met at short notice, because they can rely on a stable infrastructure - and my IT team has found the ideal partner to guarantee a flawless network function.
