Riordan Telecommunications
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Riordan Manufacturing
Brandon Smith
December 17, 2012
Daniel Aldama
Riordan Manufacturing
Riordan Manufacturing is a plastics producer that makes everything from medical supplies to beverage containers. Their customers range as much as their products do, from the Department of Defense all the way to automotive manufactures. They now have revenues in excess of $1 billion dollars and are part of the Fortune 1000 enterprise group. This has all happened sense 1991 when the company was first founded.
The growth of this business has put a strain on the information systems infrastructure of the company. The inefficiencies of this company have arose from the additional facilities with disparate systems, this is the biggest concern in the manufacturing arenas and inventory management. This paper will talk about the current data networks and telephone systems for Riordan and where it could be improved at.
Riordan Manufacturing has a data network and telephone network where the main network is located in San Jose, California and connects to its other three locations in China, Michigan, and Georgia. The Riordan Company does have a VoIP telephone system in place in their systems. They should move into the unified communication technology that is pursued by Microsoft, Cisco, and others. This is the use of advanced technology to replace the traditional communication infrastructure such as fax, PBX, and even the traditional telephone itself.
Employees can use the software that is installed on their computers, laptops, cell phones, ect; to access the VoIP system to make calls, check and send emails, fax, IM, collaborate contact information, calendars and schedules, and even audio and video conference with the other branches of the business. If Riordan implemented unified communications they would be able to collaborate the Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Speech Server, and Microsoft Office Outlook all with updated versions and set a new communications devices to form a cohesive “unified” communications system. Built on a rich platform and supported by the extensive capabilities of its growing partner ecosystem, Microsofts unified communications offerings will deliver seamless comprehensive and integrated communications capabilities for businesses. Microsoft News (2006). The disadvantage of not implementing this would be that Riordan would not be taking advantage of the features that are available to enhance their business communications.
Riordans current topology is made up of four separate star topology LANs (Local Area Networks) that consists of a mesh network that interconnects all the WAN (Wide Area Networks). The Internal networks speed varies all the way from 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps and the backbones interconnecting each site vary from a fractional T-1 to a Full T-1 (1.544Mbps).
Before Riordan makes any kind of change in their system they need to examine their current database management structure, computer hardware, and resource management systems. All of their computer systems are in need of an upgrade in order to provide a platform that they can implement the modern systems needed for operational improvements. For example I will use the Albany, Georgia facility as the basis for the blueprint for what should be done in their topology.
Riordan first needs to implement a comprehensive enterprise resource-planning package, a high performance database structure, and upgrade to Pentium IV class hardware. They still currently use Windows NT and should move to a more current Windows 2003 Server for the exchange, file/print, and ERP servers. The 100 Mbps switches currently used in Riordan need to be upgraded in order to support the gigabit Ethernet and fiber optic transmission protocols. The connection to the main corporate office should be up dated to the transmission speeds common in the marketplace which is at least 3.5 Mbps. Riordan should make an integrated database system so that all of these features and system enhancements in the future can be modified to the system easier.
The current switches in the San Jose department begin with a 100Base T Ethernet switch to route all the traffic between the hardware. There are two 24 port Cisco switches that connect the 35 departments computers to the network. The 15 MAC G5s, three printers, and one HP plotter is connected to the network using a Gateway switch. Another Gateway switch connects the R & D Ethernet to Riordans satellite transmission between the offices. One Linksys 24 hub connects an IBM pSeries 6E4 Multiprocessor and two blade servers to the network. The company also has two Data/VoIP routers, one connects to the outside internet and one connects to the companys internal network, from a satellite.
The China location has a set up similar to the San Jose office. They do have an additional 8-port hub that links to eight Laser Jet V printers. The current 100Base T Ethernet switch is sufficient for these two offices for now based on the size of the company. They are fast and work well with the computer-aided manufacturing.
The other two places have most of the common equipment as with the China location and the San Jose location. The would however benefit from replacing their Nortel hubs with the same 100Base T Ethernet switches as the other two locations already use. It is a high cost to implement, but with the implementation it will