"Always professional in what they do providing a great quality service"

IT4A have worked for me for many years and have never let me down in delivering Network design, procurement and on site setup and configuration. We now use IT4A for the integration of other third party software and security packages giving us a single point of contact for the project rather than dealing with many different vendors. They have always been flexible in working hours for site and understand the complexities of working on a Nuclear facility, I am always met with a friendly face who is always willing to go beyond their call of duty.

Passive Network Infrastructure. Physical Infrastructure Preparation for Network Migration.

Our customer is a world leading nuclear fuel fabrication plant, that has been in operation for more than 40 years and they make a substantial contribution to the total global supply of nuclear energy. They have a considerable responsibility to maintain a level of production which will continue to service the industry. The problem outlined by the onsite engineering team was to replace a now obsolete network infrastructure that was supporting the manufacturing process and was now experiencing reliability issues. It was clear that the now obsolete network had to be brought up to date.

Challenges:
-Refurbish passive network infrastructure for critical control and monitoring networks
-Review physical network topology and re-validate legacy fibre infrastructure
-Prepare infrastructure for live network integration and migration

Environment:
-High security nuclear facility
-Limited evidence of backup system readiness
-Large industrial plant with strict permit-to-work system

IT4A's Solution:
-Survey, consult and design optimal topology for the new plant layout
-Clean, re certify, re-work and protect process wide fibre infrastructure
-Deliver a "fit for nuclear" approach consistent with the project needs and site sensitivity
-Prepare a robust infrastructure platform for the active network deployment.

Outcome:
This phase of works resulted in a fully EN-50173 certified, labelled and documented fibre installation. Legacy plant-wide fibre has been extended to a new communications room that has become the network hub for the respective process areas, ready for the active Ethernet network replacement. The works were completed without introducing any risk to production. Higher risk activities were carried out in the proximity of live plant were passive only - no disruption, planned or otherwise was seen by the plant.

Active Network Infrastructure. Obsolescent Process Control Network Replacement & Migration

Our customer is a world leading nuclear fuel fabrication plant, that has been in operation for more than 40 years and they make a substantial contribution to the total global supply of nuclear energy. They have a considerable responsibility to maintain a level of production which will continue to service the industry. The problem outlined by the onsite engineering team was that the active Ethernet network infrastructure that was supporting the manufacturing process had been experiencing an increasing number of failures and it was clear the obsolete Network Hardware now had to be brought up to date.
In the case of a communications path failure, the network was service was always maintained, as the legacy system provided redundant connectivity with automatic fail-over. The legacy fail-over process, whilst fast, was unmanaged leaving operations staff unsure about the availability and effectiveness of their backup systems.

Challenges:
-Overcome network obsolescence
-Accommodate legacy, current and future networking needs
-Document each stage of the solution to Nuclear quality standard
-Develop, perform and document extensive factory, integrated and site-based testing
-Migrate live systems to new network without any loss of production
-Ensure adequate future scalability
-Ensure all solutions are "Fit4Nuclear"

Environment:
-High-security nuclear facility with the controlled and supervised areas
-Continuous process with 24/7 plant operations

IT4A Solution:
-Consultation and collaboration to determine needs and discuss options
-Vendor-verified design, procurement, documentation and turnkey solution implementation
-System tests including resilience, performance, security and manageability
-GPS synchronised network time and server

Outcomes:
The new IT4A engineered, managed network has brought one of the UK's Nuclear fuel facilities up-to date, using both modern standards and good practice. Significant improvements to the efficiency and reliability of the operations have resulted. Equally important has been the peace of mind that the infrastructure supporting productions a scalable, engineered solution that is understood, documented and above all trusted.
From the certification of all the fibres to the implementation of the fully configured network management system, IT4A's approach to challenging every element of the design was fully justifies. The client now has the robust solution they needed and just as important, the guidance, assurances, education and support that ensures the new network solution is supportable and maintainable for many years to come.