Aviation Logistics

A major European airline company building a fully automated 70,000m², 40-metre high high-bay warehouse at one of Europe's largest aviation hubs needed an OT network capable of supporting digitalization goals, big data integration, and future corporate strategy requirements from the ground up. The transition from homogeneous PROFINET fieldbuses to a digital-ready architecture required careful coordination between plant operators, machine manufacturers, and IT infrastructure stakeholders — with data integrity, OT security, and long-term scalability all factored into the design. Indu-Sol acted as a key partner across network consulting, planning, infrastructure deployment, commissioning support, and network acceptance documentation.

Through resource-efficient network design, Indu-Sol achieved cost savings of up to 50% and a tenfold increase in network performance compared to the original approach, saving over €700,000 through planning alone before a single switch was installed.

Project Overview

• Customer: Major European airline company, >€4 billion turnover, >4,000 employees
• Sector: Intralogistics, aviation hub, automated high-bay warehouse
• Project Period: Construction started February 2023, completion expected early 2027
• Goal: Establish a secure, future-ready OT network supporting digitalization, big data, and predictive maintenance
• Project Value: Network consulting, planning, and infrastructure

Challenge
The project required integrating OT network technology across a large, fully automated facility while balancing the interests of plant operators, machine manufacturers, and corporate IT stakeholders. Pain points included technology integration across multiple parties, ensuring data integrity and availability, meeting IEC 62443 OT security standards, and designing a network architecture capable of adapting to future requirements without disrupting ongoing construction and commissioning timelines.

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Solution
Indu-Sol provided end-to-end network consulting and planning, developing a resource-efficient architecture that reduced installation costs through savings on fiber optic cabling and eliminated the need for numerous PROFINET/PROFINET couplers. Sixty PROmesh P managed switches were deployed for high-performance machine networking, integrated with the facility's CISCO IT infrastructure in compliance with IEC 62443. Eleven PROFINET-INspektor® NT units and PROmanage® NT software were implemented for condition monitoring management and predictive maintenance. Indu-Sol also provided commissioning support and network acceptance documentation, ensuring the completed infrastructure met the facility's performance and security requirements.

Results

• Future-ready, digitalization-capable OT network supporting big data goals and corporate strategy requirements
• Over €700,000 in savings achieved through network planning alone, before infrastructure deployment
• Up to 50% reduction in installation costs through optimized network design
• Tenfold increase in network performance compared to original approach
• Secure IT/OT integration in compliance with IEC 62443 OT security standards
• Predictive maintenance capability through continuous condition monitoring, reducing unplanned downtime exposure
• Noticeable improvement in overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)

Download the Case Study >>
The aviation logistics case study is a detailed look at how Indu-Sol's network planning expertise delivers measurable cost savings and performance gains in large-scale intralogistics environments.