Fast performance for faster product innovation

If you have an innovative product idea and want to bring it to market to capitalize on it quickly, you’re typically going to need a machine to manufacture the item. This is where STRAMA-MPS Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG, part of the STRAMA Group, comes in as an expert in special machine construction.

The employees of the STRAMA Group are proud that their work turns product ideas into reality, often improving people's lives. For example, a STRAMA Group assembly line can manufacture innovative battery modules and systems along with electric motors, which are more efficient and cheaper.

Cooperation with the STRAMA Group usually begins with the company presenting the idea of the new product to be manufactured. Engineers then develop suitable industrial machines as one-offs, from initial design and prototype construction through to industrial maturity. They also ensure STRAMA Group's customers receive their new machines on schedule, so they can quickly bring their product ideas to market and stay ahead of the competition.

With locations in Germany, the USA, Mexico, Croatia, India, Hungary, and China, the STRAMA Group operates on a global scale. Its central IT department provides support from first-level to system engineering. To handle massive data demands, NetApp storage solutions provide reliable performance.

To remain competitive, the STRAMA Group must provide high-quality engineering services and enable its customers to start production without delay.

The proof that the STRAMA Group is doing this continuously and successfully is evident, among other things, in its employee growth. Within 10 years, the number of employees worldwide has grown by approximately 400%: from 350 to over 1,700. This was accompanied by breathtaking data growth. The full backup of the NetApp storage at STRAMA-MPS in Straubing alone is now 40TB each month, and the monthly data growth in the cloud is so significant that the teams keep asking if additional cloud storage can be purchased.

Such growth is not only a challenge for storage performance; it also demands uncomplicated, extreme scalability to ensure that growth is not slowed.

All employees depend on their IT running smoothly. The engineers need fast access to their data for complex calculations. Loading times of several minutes would lead to unproductive employee costs and, in the worst case, could annoy customers who must wait for mechanical engineering solutions when all they want is to start manufacturing their product ideas as soon as possible.

All productive data for the engineers’ daily work in Straubing is provided by NetApp storage, helping STRAMA-MPS to quickly process and fulfill customer requests with glitch-free, fast data access.

NetApp impressed STRAMA-MPS early on with deduplication solutions that save an enormous amount of storage space. Such savings are becoming increasingly crucial for environmental sustainability and can also contribute to a healthy company balance sheet by reducing energy and operating costs.

STRAMA-MPS has been working with NetApp for 20 years. Its positive experience with NetApp’s cyber resilience dates back to an earlier version that lacked ransomware protection but already had Snapshot™ technology. STRAMA-MPS IT has always understood how vital fail-safe security is: if employees cannot continue working immediately, the costs are immense. In the worst case, delays could lead to a loss of customer trust. And end users would have to wait for innovative solutions, or could end up buying them from faster competitors. Because delays caused by hacks pose an unnecessary risk, STRAMA-MPS is well prepared for attacks. NetApp’s new ransomware protection is now one of many robust and rapidly interlocking security systems that protect STRAMA-MPS.

NetApp's reliability was also demonstrated during the tech refresh to the new NetApp AFF C250 system in 2024. With every system change, an IT team prepares for problems such as interrupted or incomplete synchronization. To be on the safe side, STRAMA-MPS IT ran the old system in parallel for a few weeks after the tech refresh, but Mario Assmann’s conclusion is clear: “We could have saved ourselves the trouble. Overnight, everything was on the new system, even with a data volume of 30 to 40TB. Our employees were able to continue working the next morning and didn't notice a thing.”

When STRAMA-MPS’ growth necessitated a new storage solution, it was immediately clear that NetApp would be the right provider. STRAMA-MPS has counted on NetApp's reliability for years. “My former boss was already enthusiastic about NetApp and their service,” says Mario Assmann. 

A larger NetApp solution was implemented in 2013 through NetApp partner ACP IT Solutions AG, and updated with tech refreshes in 2019 and 2024. ACP has been advising STRAMA-MPS for 12 years, not only on NetApp storage but also on all aspects of networking, and has implemented the appropriate solutions. “It's reassuring to know that we have ACP in the background”, says Mario Assmann. “We've developed a very friendly relationship, because we know that they provide fast and competent support.” 

The following NetApp solutions are used locally in Germany for STRAMA-MPS:

• AFF C250 all-flash storage with ONTAP^®:File shares (CIFS) are available directly on the NetApp storage system.
• Ransomware protection: Autonomous real-time ransomware detection has been active by default since the 2024 tech refresh.
• Snapshot: In an emergency, the entire data can be quickly rolled back within hours.
• MetroCluster: Data is stored redundantly and synchronously over distance, so that even in the event of a total failure, uninterrupted work can continue.

Two topics will be central to STRAMA-MPS’ IT in the coming years: developing concrete AI use cases and solutions for internal processes, and maintaining its own storage solutions that are AI-ready and easy to manage.

In their day-to-day work, all data must be not only secure but also quickly available. The immediate availability offered by NetApp enables STRAMA-MPS employees to do their job efficiently, respond without delay, and provide help when customers have questions about ongoing projects, new requirements, or fresh product ideas. As the central data storage system, NetApp must deliver the performance for future AI applications with the same reliability that STRAMA-MPS employees have become accustomed to.

That’s why STRAMA-MPS will continue to rely on the consulting services of NetApp partner ACP IT Solutions AG and on NetApp’s reliable, efficient, and secure solutions in the future.