UK plastics manufacturer Moss Plastic Parts has deployed new Wan links to connect its three new offices to the company's 15 existing sites throughout Europe.
The connections were set up by IP network and communication infrastructure service provider SAS Group. The new infrastructure links three new offices in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic to the company's existing communications network across fifteen sites throughout Europe, including its Oxfordshire headquarters.
The expanded network has allowed the company to embark on plans for rapid expansion into Eastern European markets. The company makes plastic parts, including hinges, fastenings and seals, for a wide range of industries throughout Europe.
SAS Group had already designed and installed a Wan connecting Moss Plastic Parts' existing sites. Moss had a limited number of IT staff; just four IT professionals across the entire company, so this was brought into consideration when the Wan was deployed.
"Linking the three new offices into the company network was, and will continue to be, vital to our operating efficiency - and to our continued growth," said Roger Mall, IT project manager at Moss Plastic Parts. "With only a small IT team in the UK, it simply would not have been feasible to get the sites up and running so quickly and easily without the help of a partner we could trust."
Each site infrastructure deployment had to be completed within one month, Not only that the network had to be implemented using a secondary circuit, a public Cisco internet VPN - which is now being used for failover - before switching to a BT MPLS private circuit.
To maximise resilience, the comms company added separate routers on the MPLS and ISDN circuits to ensure smooth running in the event of circuit or internal hardware device failure. The SAS Group is also providing proactive monitoring of the WANs in case of failure or loss of performance.
All three new locations required a complete infrastructure design and installation, including cabling, security and resilience as well as provisioning for all connectivity. Cisco routers and switches were installed and the company implemented all LAN switching equipment. It also coordinated the services of all local carriers and the phone system supplier.
