Santander Service & Maintenance

PROJECT SUMMARY

In 2012, Santander commissioned Anord Mardix for the installation of critical power supplies to two large data centres in Leicester, UK. Santander is one of the world’s largest financial institutions and the UK’s largest retail and commercial bank, with 616 branches nationwide.  

After project completion, Santander selected Anord Mardix to provide the service and maintenance contract for the LV and HV switchgear installed in the project. This began a yearly rolling contract which is still running to date. 

Anord Mardix’s aim now, is to ensure the ongoing performance of Santander’s data centres, and the switchgear within them, through systematic and proactive maintenance. 

KEY FIGURES

PROJECT CHALLENGES

System downtime is of significant cost to the bank, not only in monetary value, but also in customer satisfaction. 

With over 14 million active customers in the UK alone, equipment performance is paramount for maximum system uptime to keep all Santander’s banking services up and running as they should, to ensure their customers’ satisfaction.  

This particular maintenance check was conducted within a 12-hour window, on weekend outages consisting of 4 major shutdowns done out of normal working hours, due to the critical nature of the equipment that required isolating and maintaining. This took a lot of planning and organization prior to the works commencing and involved coordinating a large team of Anord Mardix engineers to carry out the tasks required. 

THE ANORD MARDIX SOLUTION 

In 2012, when the data centres were built, the following Anord Mardix products were installed: 

In this service and maintenance visit in 2017, the following were carried out: 

1. THERMAL IMAGING SURVEYS

2. END-OF-LIFE CYCLE PROGRAM

3. FULLY INTRUSIVE MAINTENANCE

Incorporating full breaker maintenance on MCCB’s and ACB’s, checking: 

• Arc shoots 
• Greasing contact terminals and checking functionality. 
• Secondary Injection testing. (conducting over 300 tests) 
• Torque tightening checks. 
• Component connection checks. 
• Full panel cleaning service of switchgear and faulty component replacements as required on the main critical switchboards across two 5,000 sq/ft facilities. 

4. MONTHLY EMS SERVICE VISITS

In addition to the yearly service appointment, Monthly EMS service visits are carried out, which include the below: 

• Check communication network and metering device operation. 
• Advise customer of alarm conditions being generated and suggest adjustment to settings. 
• Database backup and management. 
• Perform any minor system adjustments required. 
• 4-hour emergency response. 

PROJECT CONCLUSION

The maintenance of switchgear and busbar is essential to the effective operation of the critical power solution and reduces the risk of callouts between maintenance checks. This ultimately reduces the risk of costly (and disruptive) system downtime. 

The client was very satisfied with the maintenance that was carried out under the timeframes and restrictions. The service visit was completed within the allotted time frame agreed with the client, reducing interruptions to their business as much as possible.  

By continuing with regular checks and high-quality maintenance, Santander has ensured the full lifespan of each product installed on the project in 2012. 

Anord Mardix continues to support Santander with regular maintenance checks. Even now, after 9 years of use, the systems installed are still functioning seamlessly.