FINAL WORD
George Verdes , Head of Sales for
Transportation and Logistics in MEA at Nokia
The warehouse of the future must have a fast , efficient communications network connecting everything and everyone . This will enable increased productivity and cost efficiency to provide the warehouse operator the sustainable growth and competitiveness it needs . It also enables the implementation of new technologies to further improve operations such as the Internet of Things ( IoT ) to connect inventory , vehicles , people and equipment , robotic , guided and automated handling and movement , and augmented reality vision picking systems . This data is captured into the warehouse management system where analytics can monitor operational conditions and monitor performance and can be made available in real-time , anywhere .
It delivers massive high-speed connectivity for everything and everyone in the warehouse to enable warehouse workers to process the increasing volume of information that must be managed quickly and efficiently .
Nokia ’ s Optical LAN is built on Passive Optical Network ( PON ), the technology that brings high-speed broadband to millions of homes and businesses worldwide . Currently our solution supports GPON and XGS-PON and will support 25G PON in the future . It delivers massive high-speed connectivity for everything and everyone in the warehouse to enable warehouse workers to process the increasing volume of information that must be managed quickly and efficiently .
The network requires 90 % less equipment than traditional copper-based networks freeing up valuable warehousing space . Nokia ’ s Optical LAN provides substantial savings on capital expenditure , reducing the total cost of ownership by 50 %, while still ensuring a 99.999 % uptime . This means that the warehouse can have one single network for all devices and services , with military-grade encryption to ensure it is secure .
Optical LAN has several key benefits for warehouse operators . Passive optical LAN technology is cheaper to install , operate , maintain and power than traditional Ethernet LANs and all services can run on one centrally managed LAN .
A combination of fixed and wireless access points provides ultra-fast connectivity throughout the warehouse and centralised network control and automation reduces the need for manual interventions while improving efficiency and reliability . Fibre optic cable is thin , light , strong , flexible , fire-resistant and substantially reduces copper cabling volume and weight making it easy to install everywhere and easily extend as the warehouse expands . The cable is also resistant to interference and comes with features and bandwidth mechanisms that ensure traffic is managed so that each device gets the required bandwidth .
Passive technology requires less power and cooling , therefore reducing energy bills and carbon footprint , and because less equipment is needed it can save up to 90 % of valuable floor space . It is also future-proof , exceptionally reliable and uses military-grade 128-bit data encryption as a standard , while data in-network access points cannot be accessed locally .
With Nokia Optical LAN warehouse operators can begin their digitalisation and automation journey with a high-performance , secure and reliable network which provides the scalability that is needed to connect all their equipment , IIoT devices and employees onto a common infrastructure . p
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