Case Studies

Live Manufacturing Facility - Clean Environment

Major Pharmaceutical Company - Live Laboratory Environment

Network Rail, Manchester

Leading Pharmceutical Company, Tonbridge

Network Rail, The Mailbox, Birmingham

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Live Manufacturing Facility - Clean Environment

In October 2007 a major Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company awarded Ponte Comm the very prestigious Cat6 data cabling of four of their live production buildings. These ranged from a Victorian style warehouse to a typical purpose built manufacturing unit.

Ponte Comm has great experience of working in live environments, however this was a 24/7 production plant. An example of the sensitivity of this working environment, one building is dedicated to the production of asthma inhalers.  Adhering to the very strict procedures on site to protect the manufacturing process was non-negotiable.

Client Requirements:   Data cabling building upgrade consisting approximately 500 x Cat 6 outlets Stainless Steel containment to live production areas Cabling in 24/7 live manufacturing Buildings x 4  Resilient Cat 6 installation Removal of obsolete legacy cabling systems Creation of 2 x new Comms Rooms Refurbishment of 6 x existing Comms Room Principle Contractor, adhering to CDM 2007 Regulations Managing: Electrical Contractors, M & E and Builder's works

Planning

With our dedicated team of containment specialists, we spent approximately 3 weeks surveying the site and were successful in finding routes that had not been thought possible before, allowing minimal containment within the production area. We had an initial deadline from the customer of completion in 8 months. With the project started, this deadline was moved forward by 11 weeks giving less than a 6-month deadline.

Delivery

As a failsafe, throughout the production facilities a resilient system was installed, with 50% of outlets cabled to one comms room, and 50% to another. No production facilities were disrupted during any of our works. As Principal Contractor Ponte Comm was responsible for the installation of all containment systems and associated builders work openings. We produced O&M Manuals for each building including full test results, CAD drawings, cabinet layouts, ADC Krone warranty.

Success

Ponte Comm delivered the project WITHIN the reduced timescale and 18% UNDER BUDGET, due to:

Effective planning Extensive site surveys Efficient site management on the ground Excellent communication with all parties Site knowledge of our supervisors The planned migration work the project was delivered to the new reduced deadline.

The responsible Client project manager stated at the end of the project: "Your staff are excellent - a very well delivered project."

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Major Pharmaceutical Company - Live Laboratory Environment

In 2007 we were awarded a contract to install the Cat6 in a typical 1980's building over 4 floors consisting of a mixture of live laboratories, write-up areas and administration areas.

Client Requirements: Data cabling building upgrade consisting +3000 Cat 6 outlets Including: specialist Flexilabs and Write-Up areas Replace voice copper backbone cabling Principle Contractor, adhering to CDM 2007 Regulations Managing: Electrical Contractors, M & E and Builder's works Removal of obsolete legacy cabling systems (75% of existing cabling) Retention of existing Cat 6 cabling system

Delivery

The project was specified to a new structured cabling system utilising ADC Krone TrueNet UTP LSF Category 6 cabling and components throughout.

Cabling to laboratory areas was via ceiling mounted high band 12-way consolidation boxes, fully populated to future-proof them for additional cabling requirements. Secondary connections to the user ports were completed on like-for-like basis.   The laboratories and write-up areas works were completed in phases. With careful planning and close liaison with the customer and users, no disruption was incurred by the ongoing research projects.

As Principal Contractor Ponte Comm was responsible for the installation of all containment systems and formation of new Builder's work openings associated with the containment.  Thorough planning and temporary re-location of existing data cabling enabled much of the existing containment system to be re-used with modifications to allow for the refurbished room layout.

Success

In the original tender the project was to be phased over a 12-month period due to the access restrictions with end users. The deadline was reduced by 3-months, giving an 8-month timescale. Ponte Comm delivered the project WITHIN this reduced timescale.

Due to the effective planning and efficient site management on the ground, the site knowledge of our supervisors and the planned migration work each weekend, the project was delivered within the 8 months deadline.

In addition, our careful re-use of the existing containment system, Ponte Comm saved the customer a considerable amount - approximately 15% of the overall project cost.  

This saving allowed for a significant number of extra outlets adding during the course of the project to be paid for under the original contract sum.

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Network Rail: Manchester Square One Infrastructure Works

Network Rail Corporate (NWR) acquired a prestigious new office building in Manchester, Square One, located near Piccadilly Station. The new accommodation is 65,000sq feet and the project consisted of cabling the Ground, 1st and 2nd floors. Ponte Comm was the cabling contractor working for Overbury the fit-out contractor. We completed the design, installation, termination and testing of the ADC Krone Category 6 cabling system, along with fibre optic and voice backbones.

Clients Requirements

• Category 6 connections for 878 workstations were provided across three floors
• Each workstation consisting of 4 x ADC Krone Cat 6 outlets
• All outlets terminated within each desk
• Additional outlets in each Meeting Room and the Office Serve Centre
• Project consisted of approximately 4,000 outlets

Delivery 

We fully installed a Comms Room on each of the floors to house the live and passive network equipment.  These were linked to the Main Comms Room via optical fibre and voice cabling backbones, all provided, installed, terminated and tested by Ponte Comm engineers.

Success In facing the many onsite issues during the planning stage, Ponte Comm was able to quickly and effectively manage each situation to provide a positive solution. By understanding the scope of the project and the needs of the customer, Ponte Comm ensured that the project remained on time achieving each milestone and budgetary expectation. Ponte Comm was able to deliver on time and within budget a project that far exceeded customer expectations.

Ponte Comm continues to be an installer of choice for Network Rail.

Read about Network Rail's Manchester Square One award winning offices.

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Large Pharmaceutical Company: Tonbridge Site-wide Upgrade Project

A leading pharmaceutical company commissioned a full site upgrade of their Tonbridge site to Krone Cat 6 over a 7 month period, with all 7 main and several smaller older-style buildings all to be included.

As Main Contractor Ponte Comm project managed all the services onsite, including sub-contract electrical, air-conditioning and building works. A new containment system was installed throughout to accommodate the new Cat 6 data cabling system. In addition, Ponte Comm's in-house fibre specialists provided internal and external, singlemode and multimode optical fibre links.

Adding value, Ponte Comm recommended and offered technical advice on the use of wireless technology onsite.  

We then completed a wireless survey, submitted a report and recommendations and installed the wireless Access Points and an Intrusion Detection System.

Success

Strong project management onsite and support from the office-based team, together with good cooperation and communication with all parties resulted in a very successful project being completed to the full satisfaction of the customer.

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Network Rail: The Mailbox, Birmingham

Ponte Comm recently worked with Network Rail on a Fast Track project in the prestigious Mailbox building in Birmingham. With the objective of consolidating regionally-based staff in a central location, Network Rail completely refurbished offices on the seventh floor of The Mailbox.  A bold futuristic design scheme encompassed all aspects of the open-plan space and mezzanine floor, including specially designed furniture with purpose-built integral flat screen mounts.

With 250 desks each with 4 x outlets together with meeting rooms, communal areas and peripherals, a total of 1200 fully warranted ADC Krone Cat 6 outlets were installed.  Cables were loose laid on matting within the floor void and presented on pods via flexible conduit from floor grommets.

We installed a bay of four full size cabinets into the Comms Room to accommodate Cat 6 patching (2 x central cabinets), voice patching (1 x outer cabinet) and active equipment (1 x outlet cabinet).

With all services onsite working closely to ensure the timetable was met, the Fast Track project was successfully completed to deadline.

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