Beaulieu International Group is a global provider of flooring solutions, raw materials, and engineering products with 29 manufacturing plants, 11 offices, and 8 distribution centers in 16 countries. Beaulieu’s ICT department, located in Oostrozebeke, Belgium, is responsible for supporting all of the company’s sites
Wi-Fi connectivity
For Beaulieu, the movement of raw materials and finished products is registered in an ERP system using wireless handheld devices as well as devices mounted to forklifts. Issues with Wi-Fi connectivity cause problems with stock registration when finished products are entering from production or when products have to be checked-out for transport.
These constantly changing warehouse environments created the need to plan and test the network during different stock levels. However, when Wi-Fi testing and site surveys were performed by an outside vendor, insufficient knowledge of the production processes contributed to poor Wi-Fi coverage in some areas of the facilities. There was also no way for Beaulieu’s internal ICT team to detect and solve these Wi-Fi coverage issues.
The Ekahau Site Suvey & Planner solution
Beaulieu’s ICT team decided to start planning, maintaining, and troubleshooting their Wi-Fi networks in-house. They use Ekahau Site Survey & Planner (ESS) for predictive Wi-Fi planning, which has the added benefit of helping them estimate the Wi-Fi installation budget for each site. After each planning phase, Beaulieu uses ESS to perform an “AP-on-a-stick” survey to verify the plan and to define the final number and locations of the access points at the site. A verification site survey is then performed to ensure the installation meets their specific requirements.
Ekahau Site Survey is also used for identifying network issues, detecting areas without sufficient coverage, and planning for existing installation expansions. The team is now able to react to Wi-Fi issues quickly and not depend on external parties for Wi-Fi troubleshooting or surveying.
Like Tim De Coen, Network and security enginieur at Beaulieu ICT, told us:
"It has never been easier "
ESS has also greatly increased flexibility for Beaulieu as their internal ICT team can now support all sites globally, without having to find local partners for each country. To top off the new efficiency gains experienced by Beaulieu International Group in leveraging Ekahau, the team uses ESS’s reporting feature to deliver reports to management on all the different phases of the project.