AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED AS-BUILT SCHEMATICS & SPLICING DIAGRAMS

DEPARTMENT: NETWORK DOCUMENTATION

THE PROBLEM: Telecommunications operators are constantly expanding their fiber networks. After network construction is completed, as-built documentation is created to support the operational phase and its processes throughout the network’s lifecycle. This documentation, which includes schematic and splicing diagrams, is essential for accurate provisioning and efficient fault management. Construction crews rarely see the importance of accurate as-built documentation, including splicing schematics as per the reality in the field. Since they are compensated based on completing their work, there is seldom robust field quality assurance that ensures that as-builts are fully captured, mainly due to the level of effort needed to produce accurate splicing schematics. Leveraging an automated solution such as iNTERACTIVE SCHEMATICS™ ensures a streamlined design and build process that reduces the effort needed to produce accurate schematics in the as-built phase, thus saving considerable CAPEX and OPEX.

Although there are tools out there that create schematics automatically, most cannot replicate the schematics design that a given team is used to, or the schematics are not synchronized in real time with the documentation system or GIS—so they quickly become outdated and thus unreliable. A manual approach leads to high personnel costs, long delays, and inconsistencies between operators, resulting in as-built documentation being created weeks or even months after network activation—leaving maintenance teams without reliable information during critical operations.

HOW DFG iNTERACTIVE SCHEMATICS™ SOLVES THE PROBLEM:

DFG iNTERACTIVE SCHEMATICS™ seamlessly integrates with any fiber management system and automatically generates schematics and splicing diagrams whenever changes are made to the physical network. This solution offers multiple benefits: first, as-built documentation is available immediately after network deployment. Second, the costs associated with manual documentation are significantly reduced. Third, the quality and accuracy of documentation are greatly improved, as it is created from a single source of truth, increasing trust in its reliability across all teams. This is crucial for reducing delivery times for critical operations such as provisioning and fault management.

Most fiber management systems provide editing functionality. The iNTERACTIVE SCHEMATICS™ extension reads data from the fiber management systems’ database during the editing process and generates schematics and splicing diagrams on-the-fly, ensuring that the documentation is always synchronized and up-to-date.

FROM OUR PRODUCT MANAGER:

“Telecom networks are constantly changing. Documentation must reflect these real-world changes in order to remain useful, or else teams will not trust it. We envisioned a solution where schematics and splicing diagrams are generated automatically, on-the-fly, and visualized in real-time, while the user edits network inventory data within a fiber management system. After implementing and testing this capability, it was clear that the real-time creation of schematics and splicing diagrams would be immensely beneficial for the documentation team.”

WHAT CUSTOMERS SAY:

“Initially, we were skeptical about an automation tool replacing our manually produced schematics and splicing diagrams. However, iNTERACTIVE SCHEMATICS™ has exceeded our expectations. Our documentation department now relies on these automated diagrams because of their accuracy and utility. The financial benefits have been substantial. For instance, out of an annual investment of EUR 10 million in network rollout, approximately 6% was previously allocated to creating as-built documentation, with EUR 0.4 million per year spent solely on the manual creation of schematics and splicing diagrams. The integration of iNTERACTIVE SCHEMATICS™ has significantly reduced these costs and freed up resources for other critical tasks.”

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS AND BENEFITS:

• Absolutely consistent documentation gives clarity to all stakeholders;
• A live-link to documentation system / GIS guarantees a single source of truth through all visualizations;
• Time and money saved through automation;
• Resources freed for other tasks;
• Safety and security for teams enhanced by a single and accurate source of truth.

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AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED AS-BUILT SCHEMATICS & SPLICING DIAGRAMS

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