Manufacturing

Modernizing networks with Cisco SD-WAN

Founded in 1946, Kamstrup is a global leader in the design and manufacturing of smart meters for water, heating, cooling, and electricity. The company is also renowned for delivering solutions that go beyond metering. By offering software and actionable insights, Kamstrup empowers its customers—mainly utilities—to monitor usage, detect leaks, and improve efficiency—critical steps in reducing waste and promoting the sustainable use of energy and water resources.

Headquartered in Skanderborg, Denmark, Kamstrup operates in more than 21 countries with 25 locations worldwide. Its workforce of 1800 employees is dedicated to developing innovative solutions to address the growing challenges of resource management.

To meet the evolving demands of its global operations, Kamstrup has relied on Cisco, supported by its trusted consulting provider, Wingmen Solutions. Since 2018, this collaboration has driven key initiatives, including the deployment and implementation of Cisco products such as Cisco Software-Defined Access (SDA), Cisco Firepower, Cisco Umbrella, and Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI). Together, Kamstrup, Wingmen Solutions, and Cisco have crafted a comprehensive strategy to modernize the Kamstrup network infrastructure, preparing it to meet both current and future demands.

The first major step in this transformation was the transition from a traditional site-to-site VPN setup to Cisco SD-WAN. This shift provided the flexibility, scalability, and centralized control the company needed to support its growing operations. Kamstrup deployed Cisco Catalyst routing hardware tailored to the size and requirements of each location: Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms for its headquarters in Denmark and its largest U.S. facility in Atlanta, Catalyst 8200 Series Edge Platforms for medium-sized sites, and Catalyst 1121X ISR Series routers for smaller locations. For cloud integration, Kamstrup implemented Catalyst 8000V Edge Software in Azure, enabling seamless connectivity with its cloud-hosted infrastructure. Fully integrated with SDA and operational since 2022, the Cisco SD-WAN deployment laid the foundation for Kamstrup's improved network performance.

Having adopted Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Kamstrup turned to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager to centralize its network management. This platform enabled the automation of policy configurations and the use of configuration groups to streamline upgrades and rollouts across global sites. "One of the big advantages is the central management system," said Palle Lyng Raun, Kamstrup's network administrator. "It ensures that all the branches are configured in the same way." By eliminating manual, error-prone processes, SD-WAN Manager has ensured consistency and reduced complexity across all branch locations.

While Cisco SD-WAN significantly enhanced the network's overall flexibility and reliability, persistent connectivity issues between Atlanta and Denmark continued to disrupt operations. These challenges underscored the need for greater visibility into unowned networks, particularly those managed by internet service providers (ISPs).

Connectivity hurdles amid global growth

As part of its global expansion, Kamstrup recently opened a new production facility in Atlanta, Georgia. However, as the facility scaled its operations, the Atlanta team began experiencing persistent connectivity issues when communicating with headquarters in Denmark. These disruptions were most pronounced in traffic flowing from Atlanta to Denmark, hindering workflows, disrupting manufacturing processes, and impacting overall productivity.

The consequences of these connectivity issues, which were intermittent, were significant. Even brief outages lasting a few minutes could bring production to a halt, causing delays of up to 30 minutes and disrupting critical workflows as the manufacturing process rebooted. Despite extensive troubleshooting—including ping tests, traces, and consultations with their ISP—the root cause remained elusive. "We couldn't find the problem in the traditional way," explained Palle Lyng Raun. "We contacted the ISP, and they said everything's fine."

The stakes were high. The Atlanta production facility relied heavily on seamless communication with headquarters in Denmark to maintain operations and productivity. To address this, Kamstrup turned to Cisco ThousandEyes, deploying Enterprise Agents and Cloud Agents to gain cross-domain visibility into its internet performance. Within minutes of implementation, Cisco ThousandEyes revealed something that had eluded conventional diagnostic tools. "After installing Cisco ThousandEyes, we were able to prove that there was a peering problem between two ISPs," Palle Lyng Raun explained.

With insights from Cisco ThousandEyes in hand, Kamstrup first approached its current ISP to address the identified peering issue. However, when the ISP did not take corrective action, Kamstrup turned to Wingmen Solutions and Cisco ThousandEyes for help in exploring alternative solutions. Together, they used the platform to develop a "shopping list" of potential ISPs, evaluating each provider according to performance, drop rates, and reliability. This comprehensive assessment enabled Kamstrup to select a new provider that improved connectivity, reduced the risk of future disruptions, and established a foundation of assurance for ongoing network reliability.

Designing a resilient, always-on network

Cisco SD-WAN and Cisco ThousandEyes have fundamentally transformed how Kamstrup manages its global network, enabling the company to meet the demands of its rapidly expanding operations. By centralizing control and automating configurations with Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, Kamstrup has streamlined operations, ensured consistency across locations, and reduced the complexity and risks associated with manual processes.

Cisco ThousandEyes, meanwhile, has become an indispensable assurance platform for both troubleshooting and proactive monitoring. Through its integration with Cisco SD-WAN hardware, Kamstrup gained unparalleled visibility into network performance—both internally and with third-party providers. This has enabled the company to identify and address bottlenecks before they escalate, achieving a 40% reduction in downtime and improving network availability and reliability by 30%. Additionally, Kamstrup has cut its mean time to repair (MTTR) in half and reduced IT support tickets by 20%, further enhancing operational efficiency.

Beyond resolving connectivity issues, Kamstrup also uses Cisco ThousandEyes to evaluate ISP performance, monitor critical cloud applications like Microsoft 365, and optimize its hybrid setup, which includes direct internet access and virtualized routers hosted in Azure. This transition has allowed its IT team to shift their focus from reactive troubleshooting to proactive network management, empowering them to prioritize strategic improvements over constant firefighting.

Looking ahead, Kamstrup plans to expand its use of Cisco ThousandEyes, building on the successful deployment of Enterprise Agents across all 24 SD-WAN routers through a seamless integration with Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager. This expansion will further enhance visibility, reliability, and performance across the company's global operations.

With a hybrid network setup that seamlessly connects cloud services and on-premises operations, Kamstrup is well-equipped to handle the complexities of a growing global business. By integrating Cisco SD-WAN and Cisco ThousandEyes, Kamstrup has built a resilient and scalable network infrastructure that not only addresses immediate connectivity challenges but also prepares the company's operations for long-term success. This helps ensure that Kamstrup can continue delivering innovative, sustainable metering solutions to customers around the world.

The Cisco ThousandEyes dashboard displays an overview of network health and performance.