Networked industry, digital future

In industry, every second counts – whether in manufacturing, logistics or coordination with international partners. Ensuring that complex processes run smoothly requires more than just powerful machines: it also requires a reliable and flexible IT infrastructure. Ringmetall shows how these requirements can be met with modern network technology. By using SD-WAN from Vodafone Business, the company has intelligently networked its locations worldwide, accelerated data flows and created the basis for secure and efficient control of production and communication processes.

The Challenge

Securely connecting locations worldwide

The Ringmetall Group is growing rapidly. Compared to the results for 2024, the plan is to almost double turnover by 2027. In order to achieve these goals, the group of companies must be able to respond flexibly to economic and strategic conditions. This includes, for example, opening new locations or integrating additional subsidiaries as part of company acquisitions.

Currently, this also includes four international locations – in the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Turkey. Branches in the Netherlands and Poland are to be added shortly. All connected locations must be able to access central services such as a group-wide ERP system as well as shared design data and other documents. A powerful and flexible company-wide network is essential for this.

The MPLS connection, which will be used primarily until 2024, proved to be too rigid in view of these strategic requirements. Ringmetall therefore decided to use SD-WAN at the end of 2024. After thoroughly reviewing the market offerings and based on positive experiences – especially in the mobile communications sector – Ringmetall chose Vodafone Business as its solution partner.

The Company

Global leader in barrel clamps

Ringmetall is a leading global specialist supplier to the packaging industry. The company develops, manufactures and markets solutions for applications in the chemical, petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries, the food industry and the logistics sector. Development and production take place at 21 production sites in nine countries on three continents.

In the "Industrial Packaging Rings" division, Ringmetall is now the global market leader for drum clamping rings – highly specialised closure systems for drums – with a market share of well over 50 per cent. In the "Industrial Packaging Liner" division, the company also produces custom-fit inner liners or inner shells ("form liners") for industrial drums.

The Solution

High performance and availability with a managed service model

Ringmetall relies on Vodafone Business's managed service model for its SD-WAN networking. This means that Vodafone's team of experts takes over network operations and makes configuration adjustments and other changes to the network in close consultation with Ringmetall. This significantly reduces the workload on Ringmetall's IT department.

To ensure fast and targeted communication between Ringmetall's IT managers and the team of experts at Vodafone, Vodafone conducted extensive training on the product and commissioning of the SD-WAN solution.

"Vodafone Business's managed service offering is ideally suited to our needs, as it relieves our IT department of standard tasks," explains Mario Kunz, Vice President IT & Digitalisation at Ringmetall. "What's more, the performance of the solution provided is impressive – since switching to SD-WAN, we have not experienced any downtime at our production sites."

Vodafone Business' pragmatic approach was already evident during the switchover: when the previous provider shut down its lines too early due to a coordination error, Vodafone provided a quick temporary workaround using mobile routers before the SD-WAN routers could be put into operation.

"Overall, both the quality and availability of network connections at our locations have improved significantly," adds Kerim Atal, project manager at Ringmetall. "Vodafone's excellent project management is also evident in other examples, such as the export of the necessary hardware to locations abroad. We greatly appreciate the pragmatic and solution-oriented approach of our contacts at Vodafone," emphasises IT Vice President Mario Kunz.

The site connections provided via SD-WAN not only handle internal and external data communication and access to central services, but also, for example, the group's IP-based telephony.

"The SD-WAN solution provided by Vodafone Business impresses with its high performance and availability, flexible administration and attractive price-performance ratio," says Kerim Atal. "We are completely satisfied with our collaboration with Vodafone Business."

The Advantages

SD-WAN connects locations at home and abroad

Ringmetall relies on SD-WAN from Vodafone Business for the internet connection and networking of its locations in Germany and abroad. The chosen managed service model reduces the workload on the in-house IT department. The location connections implemented via SD-WAN not only handle internal and external data communication and access to central services, but also, for example, the group's IP-based telephony.

We spoke to Mario Kunz, Vice President IT & Digitalisation, and Kerim Atal, Project Manager for SD-WAN at Ringmetall, about the advantages of SD-WAN and the collaboration with Vodafone Business.

What role does location networking play strategically for your company?

Mario Kunz: In order to achieve our ambitious growth targets, we need to quickly integrate new locations into our network structure. This applies both domestically and abroad, and affects both newly established branches and subsidiaries that we integrate into our group through acquisitions. SD-WAN is the ideal solution for Vodafone Business to meet our needs.

What specific advantages does SD-WAN offer you?

Kerim Atal: We are completely satisfied with the solution. It impresses with its high performance and availability, flexible administration and, above all, its good price-performance ratio. Zero Touch Deployment makes it very easy to commission new locations without IT department staff having to travel to the site.

Why did you also decide on the managed service model offered by Vodafone?

Mario Kunz: This approach also fits our requirements perfectly. We know that the administration of our company network is in competent hands, we can quickly coordinate with the relevant experts at Vodafone Business when configuration changes are required, and this model takes the pressure off our IT department overall.

How would you rate your collaboration with Vodafone?

Kerim Atal: We greatly appreciate the pragmatic approach taken by our contacts at Vodafone. This was evident, for example, during the transition from the previous MPLS solution to SD-WAN. When the previous provider shut down its lines too early due to a coordination error, Vodafone quickly provided a temporary bridge using mobile routers until the SD-WAN routers could be put into operation.

Mario Kunz: Overall, it is extremely advantageous to obtain all the necessary IT and telecommunications solutions from a single source – including site networking, telephony and other services. We greatly appreciate the fact that all the necessary coordination takes place quickly and easily.

Digital transformation, global supply chains and hybrid working models are posing new challenges for corporate networks. Solutions that are flexible, secure and cloud-enabled are in demand. Traditional MPLS networks are reliable, but are increasingly reaching their limits as requirements grow. Modern approaches such as software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) complement these structures with greater agility and efficiency. The technology connects locations, cloud services and mobile employees intelligently, securely and flexibly. These seven examples show how SD-WAN creates concrete added value.

Conclusion

SD-WAN is much more than just a modern network concept – it is a strategic enabler for efficiency, security and innovation. Companies that intelligently connect their locations and cloud services lay the foundation for a future-proof, high-performance IT landscape.