The solution
BT revolutionized its drawing management system, achieving standardized formats, reduced retrieval times, efficient network performance, and regulatory compliance. GTX solutions helped BT streamline workflows, cut costs, and improve accessibility, ensuring long-term sustainability for its infrastructure documentation.
British Telecom: Achieving Five-Second Drawing Retrieval Across 50 Locations
BT struggled with format inconsistencies, slow access, and inefficient document management for 85,000+ drawings across 50 sites. With GTXRasterCAD® PLUS, BT centralized its archive, reduced network load with raster thumbnail previews, and ensured ISO14001 compliance, cutting retrieval time to five seconds and improving service efficiency.
As one of the UK’s largest companies, BT manages a vast property portfolio with 8,500 buildings, including 5,000 telephone exchanges, offices, workshops, and laboratories. To stay competitive, BT sought a streamlined approach to managing 85,000+ technical drawings related to its infrastructure. A high-speed, scalable drawing management system was required to improve efficiency, retrieval times, and network performance.
Challenge
BT faced three major hurdles in optimizing its engineering drawings:
- Multiple CAD formats: Drawings were created using AutoCAD®, CADAM®, Intergraph®, and Microstation®, leading to compatibility issues and inefficiencies.
- Slow retrieval & network load: Accessing files across 50 locations required considerable data transfer, causing network delays.
- Environmental compliance & accuracy: BT needed ISO14001-certified documentation to track drainage routes and environmental management across its sites.
A comprehensive solution was needed to standardize workflows, accelerate access times, and minimize network strain while ensuring compliance with international standards.
Solution
BT implemented a centralized drawing archive system, supported by GTXRasterCAD® and GTXRaster CAD PLUS licenses integrated with AutoCAD®. Key elements included:
- Hybrid Raster & Vector Editing: GTXRasterCAD® enabled engineers to edit scanned drawings without full vector conversion, speeding up the workflow.
- Optimized Network Usage: GTX software generated raster thumbnail previews (TIF files), allowing five-second retrieval times across locations while minimizing file transfers over BT’s multi-protocol routed network (MPRN).
- Environmental Data Tracking: GTXRasterCAD PLUS® helped BT maintain ISO14001 compliance, enabling engineers to add drainage pathways and discharge routes directly to scanned site plans.
Result
BT’s new system achieved five-second retrieval times, with 85,000 drawings online and 2,000 to 3,000 new drawings digitized each month.
- Engineers at 50 locations can view, red-line, edit, and print drawings seamlessly.
- Reduced network congestion led to faster access speeds, improving collaboration.
- The digital archive supports long-term data security, allowing for future web-based access for field engineers.
"Apart from giving us enormous flexibility in how we work with our scanned drawing files, the GTX products have been essential to the success."
- Paul Bagnall, BT CAD Systems Manager