SK Food Group deploys passive optical LAN for Industry 4.0 benefits
PON equipment supplier Tellabs and network systems integration company UberData Networks say they have deployed a passive optical LAN at SK Food Group’s 220,000-square-foot facility in Phoenix, AZ. Use of the passive optical LAN approach for both human and machine communications needs enabled a flexible design approach as well as lower overall costs, the companies say.
“We saw up to 50% lower equipment savings at our Phoenix facility with an optical LAN design compared to a traditional copper-based network design,” confirmed Melissa Stone, SK Food Group IT Director. “As a result of deploying passive optical LAN technology at our facilities, we’ve gained an approximate 70% savings in operational savings due to reduction in IT engineering, centralized management, and the ability to perform faster moves, adds, and changes.”
SK Food Group is a custom food manufacturing company that serves customers across North America. It produces sandwiches, wraps, protein snacks, flatbreads, burgers, and other food products for Fortune 500 companies, QSRs, airlines, retailers, convenience stores, and neighborhood cafés. The company is such a fan of passive optical LAN that it has used the technology in at least six other facilities via UberData Networks, as well as others (see "Passive optical LAN from Tellabs choice of SK Food Group").
“We're very pleased that SK Food Group is gaining optical LAN's full potential for breaking traditional network challenges for manufacturers. We trust they'll find OLAN to be a wise investment with the least disruptive path to future wired and wireless technologies,” said Rich Schroder, Tellabs president and CEO.
“We stand totally committed to helping SK Food Group in their successful design, integration, and implementation of Tellabs optical LAN at their Phoenix, AZ, manufacturing plant and the six other U.S. facilities,” added Jeff Van Horne, UberData Networks’ president.
Passive optical LAN leverages point-to-multipoint PON technology as an alternative to point-to-point active Ethernet links, particularly those based on copper infrastructure (see “Technology and business drivers for passive optical LANs”).
For related articles, visit the Network Design Topic Center.
For more information on FTTx systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.
To stay abreast of fiber network deployments, subscribe to Lightwave’s Service Providers and Datacom/Data Center newsletters.
Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.