Backed by eMaint, NTT’s data center division thrives with fast-growing global customers
Customer Since: 2017 | Industry: Computer Facilities Management Services
NTT Global Data Centers Americas, formerly known as RagingWire Data Centers, builds and manages state-of-the-art, highly secure data centers for enterprise clients with high-growth trajectories.
With a large installed base of NTT data centers, and more under construction, the global organization chose eMaint CMMS software to help implement advanced maintenance management techniques, standardize operations at its facilities, and reinforce its commitment to customers.
BACKGROUND
NTT is one of the largest data center suppliers in the world, with more than 160 data centers in 20 countries. As a subsidiary of Tokyo-based NTT, NTT Global Data Centers Americas operates data centers in key markets across the U.S., including Ashburn, VA.; Dallas, TX and Sacramento, CA. Under construction are new campus sites in Chicago, IL; Hillsboro, OR.; and Santa Clara, CA.
NTT’s hyperscale data center facilities offer custom, end-to-end, tiered solutions. Hyperscale refers to the ability of an IT system or architecture to scale-up quickly in response to increases in demand. According to Global Market Insights, the hyperscale market is projected to grow from $20 billion in 2018 to $65 billion by 2025.
The portfolio of assets for NTT Global Data Centers Americas numbers in the thousands, including large batteries, chillers, transfer switches and switch gears, UPS systems, and 10 to 20 diesel generators per building. Multiple equipment redundancies ensure backup if a problem occurs.
Lee McClish, manager of maintenance and reliability, joined NTT Global Data Centers Americas in 2017. Based on NTT’s Ashburn data center campus, his charge was to establish a facility-wide maintenance and reliability program for the company.
eMaint Computerized Maintenance Management (CMMS) software was already in place when he arrived. A CMMS such as eMaint is a proven tool for assuring proper maintenance management. It enhances efficiency and productivity by scheduling and tracking maintenance tasks, keeping a historical record of the work performed, documenting activities for all machines, and supporting capital planning for asset replacement.
THE CHALLENGE
When the eMaint CMMS was first implemented, it was not fully optimized to leverage the system’s capabilities.
Company leaders decided to reimplement the system. McClish started by exploring its scope and documenting operational gaps as he went through the eMaint functions and features.
IMPLEMENTATION
Several employees attended Xcelerate, the annual Fluke Reliability conference traditionally held in Florida, where maintenance and reliability professionals gather to network and consult with eMaint experts. There, McClish and his team got answers to their questions about the system’s potential, and upon their return, the transformation began to take form.
The vision and plan required buy-in from the team and the fostering of a culture centered on reliability.
“I would say you have to have a plan, and you have to have the vision, and you have to articulate it,” McClish says. “And you have to think about the end user. What’s going to save the team work?”
With his background as a mechanical engineer and RCM manager, McClish wanted to ensure that the entire company understood what it would take to build a reliability-focused maintenance program, and how eMaint could help.
Three days of onsite eMaint CMMS instruction took place at each facility. Additionally, the organization benefited from having a dedicated CMMS implementation specialist to help configure the software to meet NTT’s objectives.
McClish created a custom user’s guide and a detailed utilization plan to help set the foundation for continuous improvement. PMs were divided into four types and prioritized based on asset criticality. Task lists and standardized PM procedures were created. Managers were able to customize the system to fit individual facility needs.
RESULTS
The ability to create mandatory fields and optimize workflows and PMs helped achieve data entry consistency and maintenance management standardization across all facilities. One such area ensures that completed work orders contain the failure, cause, and remedy codes necessary for failure analysis and PM optimization.
NTT is sometimes audited by customers that want to know how the company will deliver the required level of uptime. Using the CMMS, facility leaders can easily show documented maintenance activity and work-order completions. These specific activities reflect the level of effort expended toward improving equipment reliability and availability to support a customer’s required maximum uptime.
A CMMS advisory team that includes McClish and NTT facility stakeholders meets regularly to discuss problems, solutions, and how to enhance the company’s ongoing reliability journey using eMaint.
Additionally, meaningful KPIs are in development to enable data-driven decisions and eventually move the company toward predictive maintenance.
BENEFITS
“eMaint is great because you can move fields around, you can tailor everything that you want to what you want, what format you want, where you want them on screens, what order on the screens. You can make it exactly the way you want it to work for you.”
– Lee McClish, Manager of Maintenance and Reliability, NTT Global Data Centers Americas