Edible Oils, Erith: structured cabling and high-bay Wi-Fi for four new production lines
ACCL upgraded the network infrastructure at the Edible Oils bottling site in Erith, Kent, delivered around live production to support four new production lines.
ACCL was engaged to upgrade the network infrastructure at the Edible Oils Erith bottling plant so the site could bring four new production lines into service. The work combined a substantial Category 6a installation with a diversely routed OM4 fibre backbone and site-wide wireless coverage across a high-bay industrial building, all delivered without interrupting production.
The result
- Diversely routed 8-core OM4 fibre to each cabinet
- Full wireless survey informing access point placement
- Wi-Fi coverage across a 12 metre high-bay environment
- Resilient fibre backbone avoiding a single point of failure
- Delivered around live production with no interruption to bottling
- Tested, labelled and documented infrastructure
Services Delivered
Overview
Edible Oils Limited (EOL) is the UK’s largest producer of commodity bottled oils and a joint venture between Archer Daniels Midland and Princes. Its Erith bottling plant sits on the banks of the River Thames in Kent, adjacent to the refinery that supplies it.
When Edible Oils set out to add four new production lines at Erith, the existing network infrastructure had to grow with the plant. ACCL was engaged to design and install the structured cabling, fibre backbone and wireless coverage that would support the new lines, delivered around live production. The programme ran from project planning in November 2019 through to completion in September 2021, phased around the plant’s production schedule so output was maintained throughout.
The challenge
Two things made this project demanding. First, the work had to happen around live production: a bottling plant of this scale runs at high throughput, so every phase of the installation had to be planned in detail and sequenced to fit the plant’s operating windows.
Second, the building itself. With an apex of around 12 metres, Erith is a genuine high-bay environment, so the wireless deployment followed a full wireless survey rather than a fixed access point count decided in advance.
- Distribution of Cat6a cabling to the new production lines
- Locations for seven new equipment cabinets
- Diverse fibre routes for genuine route resilience
- Wireless coverage across a 12 metre high-bay space
- Sequencing every phase around live production
- Termination, labelling, testing and documentation
Project context
Food manufacturing has become steadily more dependent on reliable network infrastructure. For a plant adding four new lines, the network is not a secondary service, it is part of what allows the new capacity to operate, which is why the fibre was diversely routed and the wireless was designed from a survey rather than fitted to a standard template.
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Approximately 200 Cat6a cables to seven new cabinets
ACCL installed approximately 200 Category 6a Excel copper cables, run back to seven new equipment cabinets positioned around the production warehouse. Category 6a supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet across the full 100 metre channel, and its performance headroom suits demanding industrial environments.
Siting the cabinets close to the areas they serve kept horizontal cable runs efficient and gave the site local distribution points for each part of the plant, rather than returning every cable to one location.
A diversely routed OM4 fibre backbone
Each of the seven cabinets was linked back to the Main Equipment Room (MER) with 8-core OM4 multimode fibre. Importantly, that fibre was diversely routed: each cabinet’s fibre follows a separate physical path, so a single cable-route incident is far less likely to take a cabinet offline.
Additional fibre capacity and genuine route diversity are not the same thing. Installing more fibre through one route adds capacity but not physical resilience, so separating the routes reduces the risk that one physical incident affects a cabinet’s connectivity.
High-bay wireless designed from a survey
Reliable wireless coverage in a tall building cannot be guessed at. Following a full wireless survey, ACCL deployed 32 Aruba 600 Series wireless access points across the site. With the building apex at around 12 metres, the survey informed the placement, mounting and coverage strategy needed to carry reliable connectivity down to floor level.
Designing the wireless from a survey, rather than fitting a fixed number of access points to a floor plan, is what allows coverage to hold up across a large, tall industrial space.
Technologies Used
ACCL’s role
ACCL delivered the structured cabling, fibre backbone and wireless infrastructure for the Edible Oils Erith upgrade, forming an integral part of the site’s wider upgrade programme. Without the underlying network infrastructure in place, the four new production lines could not have been brought into service.
- Structured cabling design and coordination
- Installed approximately 200 Category 6a Excel cables
- Built seven new equipment cabinets
- Installed 8-core OM4 fibre to the Main Equipment Room
- Carried out a full wireless survey
- Deployed 32 Aruba 600 Series access points
- Copper and fibre termination, labelling and testing
- Sequenced every phase around live production
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Related Guidance
Foreword by Wayne
“Projects like this are where structured cabling really proves its worth. The Erith site could not stop bottling while we worked, so the real skill was in the planning: we phased every stage of the installation around live production so the plant never lost output. We ran around 200 Cat6a cables back to seven new cabinets, and fed each of those cabinets with diversely routed 8-core OM4 fibre back to the Main Equipment Room, so a single cable-route incident should not take a cabinet, and the new production lines, offline. The toughest part was the wireless: with an apex of around 12 metres, this is a genuine high-bay building, so once we had completed the survey we deployed 32 Aruba 600 Series access points to carry reliable coverage all the way down to the floor. We were proud to play an integral part in the site’s upgrade, and to deliver it with no disruption to the plant.”Wayne Connors, Managing Director, ACCL
What did ACCL install at the Edible Oils Erith site?
ACCL installed approximately 200 Category 6a Excel cables to seven new equipment cabinets, each fed by diversely routed 8-core OM4 fibre back to the Main Equipment Room, along with 32 Aruba 600 Series wireless access points across the building.
Why did Edible Oils need a network upgrade?
The upgrade supported the introduction of four new production lines. The additional capacity required reliable wired connectivity, a resilient fibre backbone and dependable wireless coverage across the plant.
How do you install cabling and Wi-Fi without stopping production?
The work was planned in detail and phased around the plant’s operating windows, with close coordination with the site team, allowing the upgrade to be delivered while bottling continued.
What is Cat6a cabling and why use it in a factory?
Category 6a is a copper cabling standard that supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet over the full 100 metre channel. Its performance headroom suits demanding industrial environments and gives a site room to grow.
Why were seven separate cabinets used?
Distributing the cabling across seven cabinets kept horizontal cable runs efficient and provided local distribution points for each area of the plant, rather than returning every cable to a single location.
Why was the fibre backbone diversely routed?
Diverse routing means the fibre feeding each cabinet follows a separate physical path. If one path is damaged, the cabinet stays online, so the production lines are not exposed to a single point of failure.
How do you design Wi-Fi for a high-bay building?
Wireless coverage in a tall building begins with a full wireless survey, which informs access point placement, mounting and antenna choices to suit the ceiling height. At Erith the apex is around 12 metres, so the design had to carry reliable coverage down to floor level.
How long did the Edible Oils project take?
Planning began in November 2019 and the installation was completed in September 2021, phased around the plant’s production schedule.
Can ACCL work in food manufacturing and other regulated environments?
Yes. ACCL works to each site’s hygiene, health and safety and access requirements, and plans around operational constraints so production is not disrupted.
Does ACCL cover my area?
ACCL is a BICSI and SSAIB accredited structured cabling and network infrastructure contractor serving London, Kent, Surrey and the South East.
Structured cabling and Wi-Fi for manufacturing sites
For manufacturers, consultants and contractors planning capacity upgrades, involving the structured cabling specialist early helps coordinate the wired, fibre and wireless requirements around production.
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