Fortinet > Case Studies > IoT Implementation in Furniture Manufacturing: A Case Study of Steelcase

IoT Implementation in Furniture Manufacturing: A Case Study of Steelcase

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 IoT Implementation in Furniture Manufacturing: A Case Study of Steelcase - IoT ONE Case Study
Technology Category
  • Cybersecurity & Privacy - Cloud Security
  • Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
Applicable Industries
  • Cement
  • National Security & Defense
Applicable Functions
  • Maintenance
  • Product Research & Development
Use Cases
  • Construction Management
  • Tamper Detection
Services
  • Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
  • Training
The Customer
About The Customer
Steelcase is a globally recognized manufacturer of office furniture, founded in 1912. The company focuses on user-based research and design to create spaces for the world’s leading organizations. Steelcase operates globally and distributes through a network of independent and company-owned dealers, as well as selling directly to end-users. The company has always viewed technology as a key differentiator in its business and has been an early adopter of virtualization and cloud-based solutions. Recently, Steelcase introduced Workplace Advisor and Personal Assistant, a space sensing network and mobile app created to help organizations harness big data to optimize the workplace.
The Challenge
Steelcase, a renowned manufacturer of office furniture, has always viewed technology as a key differentiator in its business. The company recently introduced Workplace Advisor and Personal Assistant, a space sensing network and mobile app designed to help organizations harness big data to optimize the workplace. However, as Steelcase operates globally and distributes through a network of independent and company-owned dealers, as well as selling directly to end-users, the company faced challenges in securing its data both on-premises and in the cloud. The company had been using the Microsoft Azure platform for its web infrastructure and was developing a cloud-based e-commerce system using Amazon Web Services (AWS). However, the security controls and visibility provided with these cloud platforms were basic and not to the level of sophistication that Steelcase's policies required.
The Solution
Steelcase turned to Fortinet, a long-time partner, to supplement the gaps in the Microsoft and Amazon products. The company deployed Fortinet FortiGate next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) to secure its perimeter and for end-to-end protection. FortiAuthenticator provided Steelcase with centralized user identity management and simplified administration for authentication. FortiAnalyzer delivered a consolidated view and comprehensive reporting across all Fortinet devices in the widespread Steelcase environment. A cloud-based spam filtering service was replaced with the Fortinet FortiMail secure email gateway to provide powerful multi-vector detection and protection capabilities. As the company began ramping up its use of Azure, it leveraged the broad portfolio of Fortinet cloud-related solutions. Developers at Steelcase gained access to the Azure environment by using VPN tunnels established between on-premises FortiGate devices and a combination of the Fortinet FortiGate VM for Azure and FortiWeb VM web application firewalls (WAF) hosted in the cloud.
Operational Impact
  • The implementation of Fortinet solutions has provided Steelcase with a unified cross-domain protection both on-premises and in multiple cloud service platforms. This has addressed the security and visibility gaps in other services, simplifying training and management. The company now has consolidated reporting across all Fortinet devices. Furthermore, the use of IoT has become integral to internal operations at Steelcase. IoT-enabled devices have been extensively deployed in HVAC systems, lighting controls, and general building facilities to conserve resources and save money. The company has experienced a strong increase in the tens of thousands of endpoints that are connected into its environment at any given point in time, driven by the upsurge of IoT connections.
Quantitative Benefit
  • Unified cross-domain protection—on-premises and in multiple cloud service platforms
  • Addressed security and visibility gaps in other services
  • Simplified training and management

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