CASE study KRONE Australia 2 Hereford Street Berkeley Vale NSW 2261 PO Box 335 Wyong NSW 2259 Phone: 02 4388 4422 Fax: 02 4388 4499 Help Desk: 1800 801 298 Email: kronehlp@krone.com.au Web: www.krone.com.au APIN's Structured Cabling Solution Reduces Complexity and Costs The $530 million APIN project - Army Presence in the North - is the largest construction programme in Darwin since the aftermath of Cyclone Tracy, with around 50 contract packages to develop working and living facilities at Robertson Barracks nearly completed. With different electrical contractors working across 150 buildings, there was a risk that the various cabling systems would lack synergy, adding complexity for operators and multiplying the design cost. The solution was to develop a complete structured cabling system for the entire base by incorporating set standards into the electrical design brief. The APIN project will relocate the Army's 1st Brigade and its support elements to Darwin by 2001. Works include the construction of roads, live-in accommodation for 2,300 personnel, training and health facilities and engineering and communication services on a greenfield site. Three years ago KRONE Australia developed a premium cabling solution for Package 49, the Darwin Logistic Battalion Headquarters and One Brigade Headquarters . Covering some 8,000 points, the Package included the Communication Information Systems Centre, the main cross- connect area for Robertson Barracks. The cabling system installed for Package 49 has since formed the foundation for the development of a complete structured cabling system for the entire base, covering horizontal connections and internal and external communication links for all buildings. Captain Ian McDonagh of APIN Facilities office has responsibility for providing a coordinated communications approach to base infrastructure. "Through the tender process packages have been awarded to different builders. Without set standards given to electrical contractors there was a danger that regardless of the quality, we could end up with different designs for each package. "Recognising the need to extend a standard philosophy to cabinet layout, termination equipment and cabling product, the concept of a structured cabling system became a reality. We worked closely with KRONE to establish the best structure possible and then incorporated it into the functional design brief. While we specified the design, individual contractors had the freedom to choose which supplier would produce the product," said Captain McDonagh. Based on the KRONE design, the cabling infrastructure for Robertson Barracks spans operational and administration buildings, accommodation of 1060 rooms and recreation facilities. The Category 5 cabling system supports voice and data, communications security and building management systems. The criteria for developing APIN's cabling specifications were reliability to withstand harsh climatic conditions, flexibility to cater to any size building and long term capability to adopt to future technologies. One of the main factors influencing the decision to specify KRONE was the provision of a 20-year warranty guaranteeing that the installation will support voice and data, communications and building automation protocol for the length of the warranty period. Jon Vause, Western Region Sales Manager for KRONE Australia, Communications Division said: "The cabling infrastructure at APIN has the capacity to handle data transmission speeds well in excess of Category 5 specifications and to support existing and future protocols. "One of the main advantages that KRONE brought to the project was the ability to customise the design of the cabling system to produce a flexible solution for APIN. Using a standard layout, the design can be applied to any building regardless of size, making it easier for patching and maintenance." CASE study KRONE Australia 2 Hereford Street Berkeley Vale NSW 2261 PO Box 335 Wyong NSW 2259 Phone: 02 4388 4422 Fax: 02 4388 4499 Help Desk: 1800 801 298 Email: kronehlp@krone.com.au Web: www.krone.com.au Captain McDonagh added: "Having the knowledge of cabinet layout and a standard set of patch leads has meant that the cabling design required per package has been reduced to almost nothing. With some 50 packages across the project, this represents a significant saving on infrastructure design costs." The KRONE solution for the APIN project includes its Premis NET family of products comprising HIGHWAY patch panels and outlets, HIGHBAND termination blocks and HIGHLIGHT fibre optic cabling system, along with 19-inch racks from Richpac Technologies and fibre and optic cable from Belden and Brand Rex. As the construction phase winds down, the project is going into an operational stage with the cabling infrastructure now experiencing significant traffic. Last year KRONE ran a seminar for all project partners on the APIN communications specifications and it maintains its support on an ongoing basis. According to Captain McDonagh, however, the project has not had one failure of any one point in the three years it has been operational. . www.krone.com.au APIN& apos;s Structured Cabling Solution Reduces Complexity and Costs The $530 million APIN project - Army Presence in the North - is the largest. CASE study KRONE Australia 2 Hereford Street Berkeley Vale NSW 2261 PO Box 335