SUCCESS STORY: MoldRite Plastics
Customer Company Size
Mid-size Company
Region
- America
Country
- United States
Product
- Brocade ICX switches
Tech Stack
- Gigabit Ethernet
- 10 Gigabit Ethernet
- Storage Area Network (SAN)
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Productivity Improvements
- Cost Savings
Technology Category
- Networks & Connectivity - Ethernet
Applicable Industries
- Plastics
Applicable Functions
- Discrete Manufacturing
Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
MoldRite Plastics is a manufacturer of plastic caps, primarily resold to pharmaceutical companies as containers for over-the-counter pills such as aspirin. The company is based in upstate New York and has recently made two acquisitions, integrating their networks, applications, and users into their existing infrastructure. The company has approximately 300 wireless clients and 600 wired clients, and is constantly developing new applications and services. MoldRite was facing challenges with their existing Fast Ethernet infrastructure, which was aging and not meeting their needs in terms of performance. They were also on a tight budget for upgrading their network to Gigabit Ethernet.
The Challenge
MoldRite Plastics, a plastic-cap manufacturer, was facing challenges in integrating networks, applications, and users from two recent acquisitions. The performance of their Storage Area Network (SAN) and multiple applications was not meeting their needs. The company was also transitioning to Gigabit Ethernet, but the budget for upgrading from Fast Ethernet was extremely limited. The IT department was aware that Gigabit Ethernet would solve their current problems and support the company’s future plans for new applications. However, they were facing issues with switch saturation causing speed problems for users, and they anticipated that 1 Gigabit Ethernet and possibly 10 Gigabit Ethernet would be necessary for upcoming projects.
The Solution
MoldRite replaced its aging Fast Ethernet infrastructure with Gigabit Ethernet solutions from Brocade. The network serves approximately 300 wireless clients and 600 wired clients, and new applications and services are always under development. At the network core and at the access and aggregation points, Brocade ICX switches deliver exceptional performance, scalability, and reliability. With the Brocade Gigabit Ethernet network, the number of hanging transfers has dropped to zero. Switches are at only 5 percent of CPU and memory utilization, and overall link utilization is down significantly from the Fast Ethernet past. Since deploying Gigabit Ethernet, troubleshooting the improved network requires much fewer resources. The SAN supports faster transfers and is highly reliable, scalable, and manageable. With the mergers underway, the company is easily handling service integration and resource sharing.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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