Ensuring swift data centre equipment delivery during Covid-19

One of the world’s leading Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), was due to deliver a 400 kVA UPS for its Data Centre (DC) customer in the Philippines. The DC was due to receive the UPS in a week’s time for its expanded facility.

Covid-19 meant that the traditional route of delivery for the customer would be delayed due to issues in the supply chain with various lockdowns. With a looming delivery deadline of just a week, the UPS units had to arrive from the Philippines - then be tested and commissioned in order to be accepted by the DC at its facility.

The customer would traditionally partner with local vendors for testing needs, but with time against them on the occasion, a quick response turnaround with seamless project execution had to take place – there was no room for error or further delays.

With our strong reputation for delivery on short notice and deep experience in DC-specific turnkey load-testing solutions, the OEM customer turned to Aggreko to meet the tight deadline and meet their rigorous technical inspection standards.

The testing project was defined as a Level one factory acceptance test where the DC was also involved. Given the tight project timeline, Aggreko’s engineering and operations team swung into action fast. The turnkey solution included:

• Testing advisory
• Project design
• Scripting of testing procedures
• Provision and logistical delivery of all testing equipment
• Full engineering and installation setup
• 24/7 on-site testing operations support

The solution saw the team deploying two mobile load banks for 442 kW of testing capacity, two different power generators (500kVA and 1000kVA) for swapping across two different days to accommodate change in testing load.

A tight deadline looming, there wasn’t any time to waste – the equipment was delivered to the testing venue at the customer's warehouse.

Installation was carried out immediately after the warehouse opened and testing operations for the UPS as well as transformers continued into the night and into the following day. The entire testing operations was completed within two days against challenging schedules and dependences - Aggreko’s commitment to resolving and mitigating the customers’ challenges, was demonstrated through a speedy response.

High dependencies for testing and delivery of projects in the DC sector, along with soaring demand for DC infrastructure, showcased the stakeholder value speed, deep-expertise and experience which the Aggreko team delivered in this partnership.

Our UPS OEM customer and the DC were able to meet deadlines without incurring financial penalties for contract infringement ensuring their reputation remained intact.

With the global Data Centres sector expanding, the competition to ‘standout’ remains high. Aggreko’s specialist experience for Data Centre lifecycle operations and responsiveness proved to be crucial for both stakeholders in the aspect of reputation safeguards.