Case Study: Frank Miller Lumber achieves 10x Wi‑Fi performance and automated operations with RUCKUS Networks

Largest U.S. Hardwood Producer Puts Smarter Wi-Fi to Work to Transform Operations, Automate Business Processes

Frank Miller Lumber, the nation’s largest producer of fine quartersawn hardwood based in Union City, Indiana, needed to replace slow, error‑prone manual inventory and picking processes with a wireless, ERP‑ready solution. The company faced a hostile RF environment — towering stacks of lumber, conveyors, saws and metal — and required reliable, easy‑to‑manage Wi‑Fi to support handheld scanners, VoIP phones, tablets and a new S2K ERP system, all with a single IT administrator.

PowerNet Global deployed a Ruckus ZoneFlex Smart WLAN (indoor/outdoor ZoneFlex APs and ZoneDirector controllers) using adaptive antenna arrays that reduced AP count by 83% versus initial Cisco proposals and delivered a tenfold performance increase. The system provides blanket coverage and centralized management, enabling electronic picking, voice‑directed tallying, accurate real‑time inventory tracking, faster operations and plans to extend wireless services across the full 20‑acre campus.

Frank Miller Lumber

Jeff Naylor

Network Administrator