case study

525 Category 6 Outlets Installed
Installed to short timescale

Central Manchester & Manchester Children’s University Hospitals NHS Trust opts for Molex Cat 6 Cabling

The Project

Central Manchester & Manchester Childrens University Hospitals NHS Trust (CMMC NHS Trust), has had a Category 6 structured cabling network installed at its new Acute Medical Building in Manchester. As a Certified Installer of Molex Premise Networks this Category 6 solution was perfectly suited for the skills and expertise of INS Sudlows.

The need for a first class clinical and operational system, including radiology image transfer, meant that strategically, Category 6 was the only choice for CMMC NHS Trust - the chosen solution had to meet the Trusts needs for the foreseeable future.

The Installation

The partial closure of Withington Hospital and its change of status to a Community Hospital, required a new Acute Medical Facility at the CMMC site. The Acute Medical Building, part of one of the largest teaching hospitals in the UK, was built in just sixty-five weeks. This new cross shaped building consists of acute medical wards, theatres, day surgery and offices located over three floors.

“The Molex solution was selected by the CMMC Trust due to the extensive warranty it offered. The Trust can rest assured that even if the standard for Category 6 changes, the warranty still covers the system installed,” said Chris Dummett, Business Development Manager, INS Sudlows Ltd.

“INS Sudlows is a long established partner of the CMMC NHS Trust, dating back over six years. INS has worked with the Trust on a number of different projects, proving its installation capabilities for projects within the health sector.”

“INS has been a Certified Installer for Molex for over ten years. We have an excellent working relationship with the Molex Technical Services department who are always on hand to update/train existing and new employees, give technical updates, assist with tender notifications as well as regular on-site visits. Being an accredited installer is a key distinction in the eyes of many consultants,” commented Chris Dummett.

The project was awarded to INS further to a tender submission, standard procedure for NHS projects. INS Sudlows commitment and previous experience of working with the Trust left no doubt in Chris Jones mind,

“INS has worked with the Trust in the past and, with their strong connection to Molex, I was in no doubt that this complex solution would be installed successfully.”

“INS did a tremendous job in keeping to a very tight schedule, which was made difficult by access restrictions. All involved parties worked very well with the short notice given and, we would have completed the whole project well ahead of schedule had these restrictions not been present,” said Chris Jones.

Installers often prepare themselves for complex cable route scenarios, particularly when handling sensitive Category 6 cables. There is also the potential in a building site environment for cables to become damaged, either by pallet trucks or other on-site personnel. In areas where cable had to be laid out, barriers were erected by INS and guarded by an engineer. For sections where many different types of contractors were working, fourby-four trunking was attached to the vertical cable tray with the cables running inside. This proved effective in preventing damage to the installed cables.

For Chris Jones, Networking Services Manager, CMMC NHS Trust, Future-proofing was a crucial issue for the Trust. Molex’s PowerCat 6 solution was chosen as it provides the required bandwidth to support a variety of equipment and applications, both now and in the future.

The Molex PowerCat 6 network solution has been independently tested and certified for compliance to the draft Category 6 performance standard. The Molex PowerCat 6 PowerSum attenuation to cross talk ratio (ACR) is better than 10dB at 200MHz and return loss, is more than 15dB at 200MHz.

To Conclude

The Category 6 network is designed to meet all the hospitals needs, covering clinical, educational, business conferencing and administration areas. 524 Category 6 outlets were installed, catering for current requirements whilst also being able to cope with new technologies such as Low-Cost Gigabit Ethernet. With the possible introduction of this technology, the cost-effectiveness issue is hard to ignore. For Chris Jones and the Trust, the importance was placed on selecting a solution that would not only support their needs well into the future but, be backed by a recognised industry warranty, the Molex 20-Year System Performance and Application Assurance Warranty.

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