Tercom Case Study

Tercom, a telecom construction company, streamlined its fiber network design processes using iBwave software. The software standardized designs, increased project throughput 5x, and boosted resource capacity 2x. It provided mobile apps for field data collection, desktop software for standardized designs, and collaboration tools to disseminate knowledge across teams. This helped Tercom improve efficiency, accuracy, and scalability to better handle complex projects.

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Tercom Case Study

Uploaded by

Francisco Romano

Available Formats

Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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CASE STUDY

How Tercom
Streamlined Fiber
Network Design and
Engineering Processes
with iBwave

Tackling the challenges of standardization

and scalability, Tercom, an established
telecom construction company in the Pacific
Northwest, transformed its design and
engineering processes with iBwave
FiberPass. Through collaboration and
implementation, they achieved a 5x increase
in project throughput and a 2x boost
in resource capacity, streamlining their
operations effectively.
Overview The Challenges

Tercom Construction is a
1 Standardization
leading fiber optics engineering
and construction company. As Tercom expanded its turnkey Fiber to the Home (FTTH) support
They excel in all aspects of and took on more complex projects, the lack of standardized
survey, design, engineering, and processes posed a challenge. Variations in design practices
construction. However, they were causing inefficiencies and hindering project progress.
faced significant challenges in
their design and engineering
processes as customer 2 Scalability
requirements expanded to
turnkey project management. With the inclusion of buried/underground Overbuild in
Tercom is focused on their portfolio, Tercom faced limitations in capacity as their
providing reliable and efficient projects expanded. The previous survey tool used for Aerial-
connectivity solutions and Overbuild lacked the necessary functionality for underground
recognized the need to improve projects, where linear distances differed from aerial messenger
standardization, scalability, projects. Additionally, relying on a single manager for all
and knowledge dissemination designs caused bottlenecks and delayed project timelines.
within their organization.
3 Knowledge Dissemination
By leveraging iBwave’s
suite of products, including Tercom aimed to disseminate valuable knowledge and best
iBwave FiberPass, iBwave practices across their team, ensuring expertise was not limited to a
FiberPass Mobile, and iBwave few individuals. However, with manual processes and inconsistent
Unity, Tercom successfully practices, effective knowledge sharing proved challenging.
transformed its operations,
achieving significant results in
terms of increased capacity,
streamlined workflows,
and enhanced accuracy. Deciphering our customer’s unique Labor Codes
to provide cost estimates, engineer jobs, and
close-out billing has proven to be one of the more
specialized tasks that we face. With FiberPass,
we can customize our Component Database and
codify Labor Codes and Material Part numbers
as subparts to primary design objects. This has
led to major benefits around standardization
and quality improvement while removing the
Labor Code interpretation as the stage gate in
our process. Before, only 3-4 resources had this
knowledge. We are now double that and growing.

– Chris Bettencourt,
Engineering Manager
The Solution

iBwave FiberPass: Tercom implemented the iBwave

FiberPass desktop application to address the challenges
iBwave of standardization and eliminate manual processes. This
FiberPass
powerful software provided a comprehensive library of
standardized components and streamlined workflows,
reducing errors and inconsistencies in designs.

iBwave Unity iBwave FiberPass Mobile: For enhanced scalability

and efficient data collection, Tercom embraced iBwave
FiberPass Mobile. Technicians utilized the mobile app
for capturing accurate site information, site surveying,
and seamless collaboration with the design team.
Real-time data sync bridged field-office coordination
gaps, even with buried pathway variables.

iBwave Unity: Tercom utilized Unity to erase

iBwave bottlenecks and enhance knowledge sharing during
FiberPass densification. The software fostered cross-team
Mobile collaboration, allowing effective sharing of designs,
annotations, and project data. Unity’s intuitive interface
expedited onboarding and increased overall productivity.

The Results

2x Increase in Resource 5x Increase in Project 20% Time Savings and

Capacity for Job Quotation Throughput Streamlined Workflows
Implementing iBwave solutions Tercom’s adoption of iBwave iBwave’s solutions streamlined design
significantly expanded Tercom’s design solutions led to a tremendous 5x and engineering workflows, even in
capacity, particularly for densification increase in project throughput. the face of complexities introduced
and underground projects. Distribution Streamlined workflows and by underground projects. Automated
of design work across staff eliminated automated processes accelerated processes for generating the bill of
single-manager bottlenecks, resulting project timelines, ensuring swift materials (BOM) and bill of labor
in a remarkable 2x increase in job project completion while maintaining (BOL) reduced manual errors and time
quotation resources. This the highest quality and accuracy previously spent on tedious tasks.
enhancement enabled handling in their designs. This exceptional Tercom has seen a 20% decrease
multiple projects simultaneously and advancement translated into in cycle time for Design, BOM and
responding more efficiently to heightened customer satisfaction and BOL turnarounds. Designers could
customer requests. a more competitive market position. now focus on higher-value activities,
leading to improved productivity
and faster project completion.
Enhanced Accuracy and Standardization
With standardized components and labor codes readily
available in iBwave’s software, Tercom achieved greater
accuracy and consistency in their designs, including
precise length measurements required for FlexNAP
product utilization. The risk of errors and variations in
project deliverables was substantially reduced, resulting
in higher customer satisfaction and reduced rework.

Improved Knowledge Dissemination

Integrating FiberPass into
iBwave Unity played a pivotal role in propagating
valuable knowledge across Tercom’s organization, Tercom’s operations has been a
particularly during densification transitions and diverse very exciting and long-awaited
projects. Codifying best practices empowered designers
to access and leverage peers’ expertise, fostering a endeavor. FiberPass addresses
more capable and confident workforce. This enabled the modernization challenges
Tercom to tackle complex projects confidently.
we foresee in the future, and we
have only scratched the surface
of the tool’s capabilities. The
time-savings, resource leveraging,
and standardization have quickly
justified the expense, and
we have a roadmap to begin
leveraging the mobile tool for
our construction team, closing
the circle on our migration to
digitized documentation.

– David Tucker,
Director of Operations