Toro, an Orkla Group brand, was facing several challenges in their communication network. The existing solution was no longer serviceable therefore the project team was looking for a solution that provides robust, stable, industrial-grade components for 24/7 operation, for a network, which could be serviced locally to achieve the shortest response times. An important requirement was also possibility of expanding the functionality.  After extensive evaluation, Toro identified that a physically separated OT network was needed to ensure containment of issues and provide real-time communication with production equipment (e.g. AGVs).

Toro upgraded the communication network for operational technology (OT) with a solution from Siemens based on highly segmented network and SCALANCE products which help ensure a stable, reliable and secure data communication.  The new OT network consists of 

• a redundant backbone implemented as a fiber-optic Industrial Ethernet ring 
• SCALANCE X Layer 3 switches which handle the traffic within the backbone 
• SCALANCE S industrial Security Appliances which protects all VLANs 
• SCALANCE W extends wired network by wireless solution 
• SINEMA Server for network monitoring 
• SINEMA Remote Connect which helps in remote servicing