Getting the Most Out of Your Custom Fiber Optic Assembly
As technology evolves and increases in complexity, network managers and ICT professionals may struggle to find off-the-shelf fiber solutions that meet their needs. Then what?
Often, a custom fiber optic assembly is required to address unique pain points. But how do you know whether the end result will work exactly like you imagine? That the end result will integrate well with the other systems and components that make up your network environment? That your investment in a custom fiber optic assembly will pay off?
Getting Custom Fiber Optic Assemblies Right
To save you time and money, Belden created a breakthrough, five-step method that’s now being used inside our Center of Excellence in Montréal. Here, we develop ideal fiber solutions for your unique environment. Within our Center of Excellence, customers work alongside Belden to create custom fiber solutions in a way that ensures they’ll turn out exactly how you envisioned them.
Here, get an inside look at this five-step process and what it accomplishes during the creation of a custom fiber optic assembly.
Step No. 1: Customer Introduction
First, you meet with Belden’s team of engineers and production specialists in Montréal to share information about your specific systems and environment, what you’re hoping for and what isn’t working with current off-the-shelf assemblies. We’ll listen and share our thoughts about how a high-quality, reliable, custom fiber optic assembly could support your specific business objectives.
Step No. 2: Design Concept
Belden works with you to create a CAD drawing and/or 3D design concept that represents what your custom fiber-assembly solution will look like – and how it will function. Instead of guessing, you’ll have a true-to-life example to work with.
Step No. 3: Visualize and Sample
We’ll analyze the ins and outs of your custom fiber assembly. Belden explains potential opportunities, product options and techniques you may leverage for maximum success. During this step, we also walk through the details of the model together, pointing out important features.
Step No. 4: Prototyping
The design we created is brought to life in our Center of Excellence. The prototypes we produce are immediately checked before production to reduce costs, accelerate the R&D process and allow for easy adjustments. Belden replicates your specific environment in-house – recreating everything from switches to cable management – allowing your custom assembly to be tested for quality and reliability. We try out different materials, experiment with terminations and evaluate the assembly in diverse environments.
Step No. 5: Validation and Production
After you approve the prototype, Belden moves forward right away with creating your custom fiber optic assemblies at our manufacturing centers across North America. The product design doesn’t need to be sent out for creation by a third party. Instead, we control the entire process from start to finish.
Belden’s Center of Excellence will save you time and money by confirming that your custom fiber assemblies will work as designed before you move into production.
To learn more about Belden’s Montréal Center of Excellence, watch this short video below.
About the Author
Dwayne Crawford has more than 20 years of experience in the datacomm industry. He has served on several international standards committees to advance high-performance/low-latency protocols (such as IEEE-1394, GigE Vision and CameraLink) used in real-time image processing and utilizing high-performance computing platforms.