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Case study
Four kilometres of fibre through a plant that could not stop
Around 4km of fibre deployed through tunnels, roof spaces and walls at a live manufacturing plant, finishing with a full server room cutover inside a single agreed outage window. Delivered under Ventia.
A working manufacturing plant is one of the least forgiving places to run fibre. The route does not follow corridors, it follows whatever path exists: service tunnels, roof spaces, along and through walls, each with its own access method and its own health and safety profile. And none of it can interrupt production, because the line running above you is what the business earns from.
The route crossed several internal departments, each with its own asset owner and its own view on when work could happen near their equipment. Coordinating those permissions was as much of the job as pulling the cable, and it was the part that decided the programme.
The hardest single element was at the end. The existing server room had to be audited device by device, then migrated into a new server-grade cabinet and recommissioned, all inside one agreed outage window. There is no partial credit on that kind of cutover. Either everything comes back up inside the window or the plant notices.
Scope delivered
- Around 4km of fibre routed across the plant, through tunnels, roof spaces and walls
- Fibre pulled, terminated and tested end to end
- Full server room cutover: equipment audit, planned migration into a new server-grade cabinet, and recommissioning inside the agreed outage window
- Coordination with multiple internal plant departments and asset owners across the route
- EWP and scaffolding rigged and worked from safely for above-ceiling and high-level runs
- Test documentation and as-builts issued to the head contractor
Project detail
| Head contractor | Ventia |
|---|---|
| Site | Live manufacturing plant, New Zealand |
| Role | Delivery lead, 369 Infrastructure |
| Fibre | Approximately 4km, terminated and tested end to end |
| Access | Tunnels, roof spaces, wall penetrations, EWP and scaffolding |
| Critical element | Server room cutover inside a single outage window |
| Delivered | Before June 2024 |
Outcome
- Zero health and safety incidents across the works
- Zero interruptions to plant operations
- Server room migrated and recommissioned inside the agreed window
- Written recommendation issued by the head contractor for future complex installs
What the head contractor said
Namra and his team at 369 Infrastructure were involved in a complex project deploying around 4km of fibre around a live manufacturing plant. This was all completed with no risks to health and safety and was completed with no interruptions to the plant. I would recommend Namra and his team for future works for these complex installs.
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