Supporting a global manufacturing operation

Since its founding in 1922, Haribo has been celebrated for its gummi candy products and other sweets. The company began international expansion in the 1960s, entered American markets in the 1980s and currently operates 16 factories which produce over 100 million gummy bears per day.

To maintain its leadership, Haribo is constantly seeking more effective technologies to support its operations and ensure continuing success. The company turned to Cisco for help in transforming its enterprise network to make its operations more nimble and consistent.

"Our objective is to speed up change requests and improve our agility to build out new branches and product offerings" said André Döring, Manager of Global Network and Security, Haribo.

Bringing all participants together on a common path forward

Cisco recommended a solution incorporating Cisco DNA Center, the network management and command center for Cisco DNA intent-based networking. Haribo wanted to implement five Cisco DNA Center use cases, including Campus Software Image Management, Campus Network Assurance, Scalable Access Policy, Network Device Onboarding, and Campus Network Segmentation.

Deploying and managing any enterprise solution is challenging, and Haribo wanted to streamline the way it implemented and supported its technology and solved any issues that emerged throughout the project.

"If you have six colleagues involved in an initiative, it's not always easy to determine who is really pulling the strings," said Döring. "We may have network designers, architects, and other individuals participating in a project, but if they are not interlinked and working together as one, it is difficult to know who to contact if a problem arises."

To deliver this accountability and lead the deployment, the company turned to the Cisco Customer Experience (CX) organization to align every participant in driving toward the project's objectives. The Cisco CX team collaborates closely with customers to understand their business goals and drivers as well as risks. Working closely with Haribo's technology partner, Cisco CX helped draft a strategic approach on how to best integrate Cisco technologies, to achieve their goals and maximize their return on investment.

"We deployed Cisco DNA last year, and they are powerful tools, but consuming them requires a different approach than the usual on-premises network components," said Döring. "The Cisco CX team helps us focus on the main business objective we are trying to achieve. It's helpful to have Cisco representative that understands how Cisco works behind the curtain."

To provide a consistent structure and plan for how to proceed, Cisco CX implemented its milestone use case methodology, defined and managed expectations, and helped remove barriers to progress. Cisco's strategy also ensured that the project's success was measured against Haribo's success criteria.

"With Cisco, we're not just talking about technology, but what it enables," said Döring. "All this technology is not our main aim—it's our tool to achieve the outcomes we want."

Deeper insights for a strategic view of the deployment all in one place

Haribo uses Cisco CX Cloud to better manage and provide insight into its Cisco DNA network infrastructure. Using the portal, Haribo can access Success Tracks suite of service capabilities of expert resources, trusted support, insights and analytics, and contextual learning with a personalized guided experience. Using CX Cloud, the digital interface to Success Tracks, the IT team can access and manage the infrastructure, use cases, expert engagements, and other capabilities in a single pane of glass—from anywhere in the world.

"CX Cloud lets us give our colleagues abroad an overview of what we are planning, what we are going to build up, and what it will look like when it is implemented," said Döring. "This makes it much easier for them to understand our objectives, and be prepared when the new technology is implemented."

Working together with a collaborative approach

The Cisco CX Customer Success Specialist (CSS) played a highly proactive role, applying Cisco's collaborative intelligence assets to bring the right expertise, use cases, best practices, and insights to the project, digitally connecting Haribo with the right experience at the right time to accelerate their success. Haribo's partner and the CSS remained in close communication throughout the implementation period, and regular meetings were held with the customer to discuss progress.

Looking beyond technology to focus on business outcomes

Backed by a consistent level of support from its CSS, Haribo's IT group has positioned itself to deliver faster to support its leaders' top business imperatives.

"Networking is simply an enabler for us," said Döring. "It provides the foundation for initiatives like a new SAP system, improved product tracking, or enhanced security. Our stakeholders in the company should not have to wait for us to move forward. The faster we can provide the infrastructure they need, the faster we can achieve the priorities of our CIO and CEO."

As a result, communication between Cisco, Haribo, and its partner, all parties are now working in harmony towards the same goal. Haribo's troubleshooting process has been accelerated, and technical assistance (TAC) cases are being monitored more closely and resolved more quickly.

"Cisco CX is like having a personal coach," said Döring. "When I have a goal I'd like to achieve, he is running in parallel with me. We keep in touch nearly every day, not just for an occasional appointment."

Impressed by the collaborative process guided by Cisco CX, Haribo is moving to expand its Cisco DNA and SD-Access deployment from one Cisco DNA cluster to three. The organization is also adding Cisco Secure products, including Umbrella, Secure Endpoint, Secure Network Analytics, and AnyConnect, to enhance security and connectivity capabilities across its global network.

The Cisco DNA approach makes it easier for Haribo to align its network to actual business imperatives, while upholding security, compliance, and other company priorities.

"The DNA-based network, provides a complete design that fully matches the real-life deployment," said Döring. "It enables us to tidy up our network and keep it clean, providing all the visibility we need to assure performance of everything from communication devices to barcode scanners, automatic pallet movers, and other elements in our production line. We can anticipate issues before they happen, and troubleshoot problems faster through one pane of glass, which translates into more production uptime."

As the implementation continues and the Cisco partnership deepens, Haribo is looking forward to continuing to expand its scalable technology foundation as its needs evolve.