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pre-sale activities for large projects , so they ’ re familiar with the special needs of that particular project .
It then goes into manufacturing support , making sure we are meeting the schedules by doing everything we can to get the product to the location when needed , co-ordinating with the site and making sure we understand the unique site logistics , whether it be service elevator access , crane access or coordinating with site personnel and scheduling .
Then we are also heavily engaged in commissioning support , providing products to assist in commissioning , providing commissioning data review or , in some cases , providing commissioning services themselves .
We then have installation , so if a customer chooses to use Starline installation services we have a full team available for that and if they choose to use a local resource then we have training available to make sure that the local resource understands how to install .
Along with that goes operational support . Once the product is installed and commissioned , the operational support is to make sure that customers are comfortable using our product and in their spare parts supply or inventory .
What advice would you offer data centre managers on ensuring successful project management ?
Regular communication with the project team is very important and getting the project team together early is also key , making sure you ’ re communicating all of the changes . There are always many changes , whether it be to schedule , design or things that come up during the course of the project .
We like to think of ourselves as being very flexible and being able to accommodate changes as they come up , but the more advance notice that we have , the more likely we are to be able to satisfy those needs .
How does Starline service the unique needs of a site and how do you handle site coordination for projects ?
As we are a global company doing global business , logistics is an important part of what we do . We ’ re servicing the world through three factories in the US , the UK and Singapore , and from those factories we ’ re shipping to most of the major country markets .
We are often faced with logistical problems , whether it be lack of containers in a port or problems booking aircraft or ocean vessels . We put a lot of effort into our logistical support to make sure that we understand how we ’ re going to get the product to the customer when they need it .
Along with that goes a lot of support to make sure that when the customer is doing the installation , they understand how to do it correctly .
Which industry trends do you believe will impact the market and how should data centre teams be preparing or responding ?
Probably the most immediate situation is concerns about global supply of raw materials and components , as well as factoring in lead times .
It ’ s no secret that there are issues throughout most industries with component lead times , particularly electrical components . The more advance notice that we have about a project or customer ’ s intention , the more we can do advanced purchases and firm up our position with vendors to make sure that we don ’ t run out of material .
We ’ re putting a lot of effort into that and have a process where we actually treat potential projects as if they ’ re orders so that we can begin the process of procuring materials and scheduling a manufacturing build so we do all we can to support the scheduling for the project .
Can you give us some insight into Starline ’ s regional plans for the coming year ?
We are always trying to expand geographically . We ’ re looking more at the Eastern European markets and have put some more resources in Asia in particular to focus on the Korean market , which we feel is up and coming .
We ’ re adding project support resources as we take on larger projects , both in Asia and Europe . We ’ re also doubling the size of our factory in Singapore and increasing resources and production time in the UK . So we ’ re doing everything we can to meet the growing demands for our product – that ’ s our primary focus right now . ◊
WE ’ RE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO MEET THE GROWING DEMANDS FOR OUR PRODUCT – THAT ’ S OUR PRIMARY FOCUS RIGHT NOW . www . intelligentdatacentres . com
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