How to digitize inventory control
When operating with a huge number of product items within a network of 659 trading platforms, the speed of turnover acquires characteristics that determine the business of the FOZZY Group.
Critical to this process are:
availability of an automated logistics management system.
operational mobile access to it for employees of trading halls and warehouses.
The Accord Group was assigned to solve the second task through building a reliable wireless network.
The most interesting work was the coverage of six logistics centers of FOZZY Group.
Distribution logistics centers of FOZZY Group are difficult to cover with wireless communication sites. In addition to the architectural features of objects, such as a ceiling with a height difference of 3 to 10 m, non-radio-transparent wall materials, Accord Group engineers must take into account: the presence and location of a shielding signal, the plying of special equipment, for which it was necessary to provide seamless roaming, and specially equipped storage areas, such as iron cabinets or freezers.
To ensure reliable high-quality communications, prevent signal loss, and optimize equipment costs, Accord Group recommended that the customer conduct radio reconnaissance.
According to our estimates, thanks to radio intelligence, it was possible to save up to 20% of the FOZZY Group budget for equipment.
At the initial stage, several access points to the location were explored in the AP-on Stick format. The measurements were made taking into account the following typical equipment installation locations: racks of different heights, open storage areas on pallets, ramps, offices, corridors between warehouses. The results obtained were used for further modeling and design in general.
The features of the premises and the goals of the customer influenced the requirements for access points of the future wireless network:
work in temperature conditions up to -22°С;
support for dual-band Wi-Fi;
support for Internet of things technology, Wi-Fi 6;
ability to control the radio and automatically adjust the channel and signal strength.
These requirements are fully met:
AP1832;
AP2802;
AP1542.
They are highly adaptable and provide maximum functionality compared to other access points in the industry.
Centralized management in Kyiv was organized using Cisco 8510 controllers. They allow controlling the operation of wireless networks in stores from a single center, manage access points in trading floors, reconfigure them, distribute loads, and control data transmission security. In addition, the controllers perform continuous monitoring, identify radio problems and notify the operator of the need for prompt response.
Vadym Zaparovanyi, CTO of Accord Group: Deploying a wireless network in FOZZY Group logistics centers has become a real challenge for our team. However, now this experience allows us to assert that we are ready to lay Wi-Fi at sites of any complexity.
The uninterrupted operation of the network, except for the controllers, was provided by overlapping access points and automatically adjusting the channel power by them when the radio air changed.
The implementation phase ended with repeated radio reconnaissance, which allows testing the system in real conditions. The study helped to take into account the features that were not indicated in the plans of the objects used for the design. Accord Group engineers have adjusted the settings of access points and antennas.
Building a high-quality wireless data transmission network based on Cisco solutions allowed FOZZY Group to significantly accelerate key business processes. The time spent on warehouse operations and inventory of goods was reduced by almost 70%, which significantly affected the speed of internal operations.
Oleksandr Buriak, the Head of IT Systems Department, FOZZY Group: The direct impact of technology on business is clearly manifested in the case of building a wireless network in our logistics centers. The growth of FOZZY Group's turnover, observed from year to year, is based on the company's ability to quickly receive and process data from different locations.
Through pre-project analysis and post-implementation radio intelligence, we were able to optimize the solution architecture: identify potential signal quality issues, simulate coverage, and prevent the use of redundant hardware.