With an isolated network at their manufacturing arm in Deerwood, Douglas wanted to create a Wide Area Network (WAN) to integrate their Alexandria and Deerwood locations. According to Al Meyers, Director, Information Systems, for Douglas, “We needed to get on board with integrating our email system, CAD drawings, and MAPICS ERP Software. We were previously sending CAD drawings between our locations via email over a 56k dial-up connection, which was extremely slow.” Douglas' goal in implementing a WAN was to enhance support to their Deerwood facility, save on IT resources, and increase their productivity.

In May 2003, Marco implemented a two site Wide Area Network to connect Douglas' Alexandria and Deerwood facilities. Marco installed and configured a 1721 Cisco router and a Cisco 2950 24-port switch as its core gigabyte switch at the Deerwood facility, and also configured their Cisco 3640 router at their Alexandria location.

Because of their location in Deerwood, they were limited to line carriers for their point-to-point connection between the two facilities. Mara Anderson, Marco IT Project Manager, worked with Al Meyers and the line carriers to provide the most affordable line costs available. Al commented, “Mara was very proactive in following up with the line vendors to make sure our point-to-point connection was in place for the installation of our WAN.”

Douglas utilizes one common firewall implemented by Marco for a private point-to-point connection between locations. Their regional salespeople and service managers connect to their network through a high speed VPN connection.

Al was pleased with Marco's installation and implementation process. He said, “Once our line carrier was taken care of, the Wide Area Network was implemented within an hour and a half. Of all the projects I have been involved in, this one was definitely the cleanest. Everything fell into place. It was a big deal for us. And I haven't had to touch it since it was installed. It has made our responsibility for our Deerwood facility a lot simpler too.”

Douglas' longstanding relationship with Marco is one of the reasons they chose Marco for their WAN project. “We value a vendor's level of experience for a project,” said Al. “We had a very positive experience with Marco when they connected our Maple Grove location a year and a half ago. It was just natural to choose Marco as the vendor for this project. We felt very comfortable with Ann McCann, our Marco Account Representative, and Steve Knutson and Lyle Carter, who designed and implemented our WAN.”

Douglas' WAN has resulted in the following benefits:

When asked to describe Marco in one sentence, Al replied, “Marco has been able to plan and execute projects to our specifications. The projects they have done with us have gone like clockwork, and I know IT projects don't always work like that.”

Al added, “Ann has been very good with our IT projects, which typically run two to three months apart. When we have a request for a new project, she usually gets back to me with recommendations within a day or two—always within the timeframe we are looking for. Marco's delivery of products and services has always been on time. We anticipate we would look to Marco for any IT projects that come up in the future.”

Douglas Machine Inc. provides creative, customized packaging equipment solutions for the food, beverage, and other various markets worldwide. They offer innovative ideas and design in engineering, and dedication to quality and craftsmanship. A 100% employee owned company, Douglas employs 550+ people at their Alexandria and Deerwood locations in Minnesota, with sales representatives and service managers located throughout the world.