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 NETbuilder help Bonar Floors improve staff productivity
Background
Bonar Floors is part of the Low & Bonar Group, an international group that manufacture and supply a wide range of products in the specialist materials and plastics markets.
Formed over 30 years ago, Bonar Floors is now the acknowledged international expert in delivering quality, specialist flooring solutions; with unparalleled expertise in specific sectors as wide-ranging as healthcare, education, transport, hospitality, leisure, offices and retail.
They have built their success on the very highest product standards and manufacture a variety of entrance systems and flooring products, including the well-known Flotex brand. All Bonar Floors products are manufactured to stringent international quality standards, in dedicated sites in the UK, France and the Netherlands.
Headquartered in Ripley, Derbyshire and employing some 500 staff, Bonar Floors now export their world-leading products internationally.
The challenge
Changes in working practices have lead many organisations to review their IT requirements, in particular to assess their computing infrastructure with regard to providing flexibility for the continuous access of important applications and data from within the office.
This was particularly the case for Bonar Floors who, operating in a fast moving market, wanted to provide users on all 3 floors of their Ripley HQ with the anytime, anywhere facility of wireless networking. This would ensure that mobile users and visiting employees from other offices could quickly connect to authorised applications and data, thereby ensuring that the data being worked on was always up to date.
Managers and sales staff, at Bonar would particularly benefit from this, as they frequently move between different offices at the site, and consequently required continuous network access without the need to be logging on and off.
A key consideration in providing the wireless network was security, as the implemented solution had to provide secure and simple access to sensitive applications and data for authorised staff, whilst at the same keeping out all unwanted intruders.
The solution
Adding a wireless component to a traditional local-area network (LAN), or creating a stand-alone Wireless LAN (WLAN), involves a number of challenges including integrating applications and networks, where downtime can lead to significant losses. In addition since WLAN radio waves travel through ceilings, floors, and walls, there is a risk that transmitted data may reach unintended recipients on different floors or even outside the building
Bonar Floors approached NETbuilder, a leading supplier of secure, wireless networks, who had previously provided them with a number of network and security solutions over several years. After a thorough analysis of their requirements, NETbuilder proposed a wireless solution based on Cisco equipment and the Protected Extensible Authentication protocol (PEAP).
PEAP has been developed jointly by Microsoft, RSA Security and Cisco for transmitting authentication data, including passwords, over 802.11 wireless networks. It authenticates WLAN clients using only server-side digital certificates by creating an encrypted SSL/TLS tunnel between the client and the authentication server. The tunnel then protects the subsequent user authentication exchange. PEAP’s fast reconnect capabilities enables wireless clients to move between wireless access points on the same network without being re-authenticated each time they associate with a new access point.
NETbuilder implemented and configured the WLAN access points to provide total coverage for the first and second floor offices and part coverage for the third floor. Two Virtual LAN’s (VLAN) were configured (a VLAN is a group of devices on one or more LANs that are configured so that they can communicate as if they were attached to the same wire, when in fact they are located on a number of different LAN segments).
The first VLAN provided secure access to corporate applications and data for Bonar staff, whilst the visitors network was configured to allow visitors access to the internet while in the building, but denying them any access whatsoever to the corporate network (not even guest access). The firewall was also configured to deny access between the wireless network VLAN and Bonar Floors internal network.
The network switches were reconfigured to support the VLAN information necessary to create the required security on the Bonar network
Benefits
A recent study by NOP found that a user with a laptop and wireless connection to their network was able to roam their office and stay connected without the need to log on again at a different connection. This translated to users being connected to their networks for an additional 1 ¾ hours a day, and the corresponding increase in productivity that this brought about was as much as 22% per user per year.
The convenience of WLAN’s also leads to happier employees and the subsequent positive impact on the working environment that this brings about. In the NOP study 87% of end users agreed that there was a discernible positive impact on their quality of life brought about by utilising a wireless network. This was caused by the increased flexibility, productivity and subsequent time savings realised by the technology. Effectively, more can be achieved in less time, leading to a better work /life balance and an increase in employee satisfaction. This leads ultimately to greater employee loyalty and productivity.
Future plans
Bonar Floors have been so pleased with the benefits of the wireless network within the Ripley HQ that they are now planning to role out wireless networking across all their offices in the UK and Europe.
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