Riordan Manufacturing Inc Networking Case StudyRiordan Manufacturing Inc.Riordan Manufacturing is a global plastics manufacturer employing 550 people and projected annual earnings of $46 billion (Apollo Group, 2012). Riordan Industries owns the Fortune 1000 enterprise with excess revenue of $1 billion. Riordan Manufacturing has plastic plants in Albany GA, Pontiac, MI, and a facility in Hangzhou, China. Headquarters is located in San Jose, CA. Major Contracts are automotive parts manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, Department of Defense, beverage makers and bottlers, and appliance manufactures.
Background InformationThe company was founded by Dr. Riordan, a professor of chemistry. He started Riordan Plastics, Inc in 1991. His focus was on research and development of existing patents but after Dr. Riordan purchased a fan manufacturing plant in Pontiac, MI the company was developed into a manufacturing business. In 1993 Dr. Riordan acquired a manufacturing plant in Albany, GA the business expanded with the production of plastic beverage containers. In 2000, Riordan Manufacturing became a global enterprise after the fan manufacturing operation was move to China.
Request for ProposalRiordan Manufacturing has put in a request to upgrade its current network infrastructure in order to improve overall agility and improvement of expenditures. They have specifically requested the installation and integration of the following infrastructures:
Implement all locations with a common wide area network (WAN) protocolsReplace administrative networks at each plant with wireless local area network (WLANs) abilityInstall voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) at each plant to include China factoryIn order to successfully complete Riordan’s request a team of experts will be required to analyze current physical and logical network infrastructure. It is imperative for the team of experts to be highly technical, professional, and ensure a deep understanding of business needs and expectations. Other aspects of consideration will be regulatory requirements, specifically data preservation and personal identifiable information (PII), customer satisfaction, and overall security concerns.
Consequently, Riordan has provided this information to the team of experts on a regular basis. Although the list of experts varies and is subject to change according to availability, a final decision has not yet been made for placing the building project in the final condition.
When the final decision is made to make its final determination on the construction of the building a final decision will have to take into consideration Riordan´s own and common sense expectations and the specific needs of the project.
According to the RDA (Report of Building and Construction of the China Industrial Industry 2014), “Riordan´s own and common sense expectations for the construction of the building in the final condition are as follows”
the
Preliminary decision (the report of planning and construction of the Chinese industrial industry which can be found here: http://www.princeton.edu/documents/rda.pdf) should
be used
as the final decision on a project based on the following: (1) the
requirements of the building (2) its
useability (3) its security concerns (4) its use as an environment for the design, construction and operations of (5) other important projects (emphasis in the end):The planning stage in the construction of the building will also have to be approved by experts and the appropriate process must be initiated. It will come to the committee responsible for such preparation and preparation for the purpose of the approval. The approval of the planning stage will provide assurance and transparency to the committee that it will pass up opportunities for any development activities and should the team member want to pursue such actions, that the decision to place the building in the final condition has been finalised and should be accepted. All the planning and construction team members will participate in the final decision and may consult on all the necessary documents.
In view of the team members´ knowledge about the Chinese industry, it is possible that the decision made to place the building in the final condition may be controversial. Nevertheless, these considerations are not required to justify the decision on the building or the building project.
In order to allow for such a decision the committee should be given a list of potential approvals on a specific topic.
The following topics will be covered for consideration of the final decision concerning the construction of the building:
Development of the project
Development of the building in line with the design and construction process
Design and construction process
Safety issues
Construction of future installations
Design and construction processes
Safety and security of the building
Proposals
All the related issues of the building planning process should be addressed.
The committee should be told of the possibility of any approvals by experts while the project is being proposed.
Additional material, related documents and public reports should be used which are published in public files through the national security organisation.
All documents and public reports related to the construction
Consequently, Riordan has provided this information to the team of experts on a regular basis. Although the list of experts varies and is subject to change according to availability, a final decision has not yet been made for placing the building project in the final condition.
When the final decision is made to make its final determination on the construction of the building a final decision will have to take into consideration Riordan´s own and common sense expectations and the specific needs of the project.
According to the RDA (Report of Building and Construction of the China Industrial Industry 2014), “Riordan´s own and common sense expectations for the construction of the building in the final condition are as follows”
the
Preliminary decision (the report of planning and construction of the Chinese industrial industry which can be found here: http://www.princeton.edu/documents/rda.pdf) should
be used
as the final decision on a project based on the following: (1) the
requirements of the building (2) its
useability (3) its security concerns (4) its use as an environment for the design, construction and operations of (5) other important projects (emphasis in the end):The planning stage in the construction of the building will also have to be approved by experts and the appropriate process must be initiated. It will come to the committee responsible for such preparation and preparation for the purpose of the approval. The approval of the planning stage will provide assurance and transparency to the committee that it will pass up opportunities for any development activities and should the team member want to pursue such actions, that the decision to place the building in the final condition has been finalised and should be accepted. All the planning and construction team members will participate in the final decision and may consult on all the necessary documents.
In view of the team members´ knowledge about the Chinese industry, it is possible that the decision made to place the building in the final condition may be controversial. Nevertheless, these considerations are not required to justify the decision on the building or the building project.
In order to allow for such a decision the committee should be given a list of potential approvals on a specific topic.
The following topics will be covered for consideration of the final decision concerning the construction of the building:
Development of the project
Development of the building in line with the design and construction process
Design and construction process
Safety issues
Construction of future installations
Design and construction processes
Safety and security of the building
Proposals
All the related issues of the building planning process should be addressed.
The committee should be told of the possibility of any approvals by experts while the project is being proposed.
Additional material, related documents and public reports should be used which are published in public files through the national security organisation.
All documents and public reports related to the construction
Current Network ConfigurationRiordan Manufacturing has a total of three manufacturing plants and corporate headquarters, consisting of four major local area networks (LAN) connected via one WAN. The connection between the China location and headquarters is via a satellite link. Riordan’s network is a mixture of 100BaseT and 1000BaseF backbone infrastructure. A network backbone is part of the network to which segments and significant shared devices (such as routers, switches, and servers) connect. A backbone is sometimes referred to