Electron have successfully designed and installed a 500 outlet Category 5e installation in Tokyo, Japan.
Working at the request of the U.S parent company (Coherent), Chris Hickling RCDD/NTS carried out site surveys at both the old premises and the new building to look at what was currently in use and what was needed to enable Coherent to make the best use of their new building. Having already designed and installed cabling infrastructures into offices in Leicester and Cambridge in the UK, Coherent had asked Electron to bid for the Tokyo contract knowing that Electron’s standards were high.
The cost of the survey was entirely at Electron’s own risk and so before committing to going Chris Hickling had to be sure that the company could actually undertake the works successfully. A lot of research was therefore carried out with regards to support and delivery from suppliers along with local costs and expense requirements. One of the key elements of the bid was the ability to be able to have a ‘partner’ company who could carry out the ‘additions, moves and changes’ once the main installation was completed.
Chris Hickling chose Rokko Denki and agreed to meet them in Tokyo during the site survey as the offices were still a building site, there were obvious language and cultural barriers to overcome.
After meeting with the U.S contact in Tokyo and carrying out detailed surveys to compete against a local Japanese cabling and network provider, Electron won the bid.
Electron installed the cabling system over a 3-week period during which time the engineers didn’t return home but worked straight through. Two engineers were provided by Rokko Denki for the first couple of days and the changeover weekend.
The cabling system was connected to the Lucent Definity telephone system which was moved from their office across town.
“The logistics of sending engineers to the other side of the world and liasing with deliveries has been demanding”, commented Chris Hickling.
The engineers that carried out the installation had experiences and saw cultural differences that will stay with them for the rest of their lives!
