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Universal Jointing Consortium

UJC logo

Universal
Jointing Consortium

UJ/UC and UQJ Piece Part Quality

 

Piece-Part Quality Assurance and the Importance of Purchasing

Original Piece Parts and Kits

 UJ, UC and UQJ Performance Requirements

Universal Joints (UJ) Universal Couplings (UC) and Universal Quick Joints (UQJ) may be constructed on ships located thousands of miles from the original place of manufacture. Cable deployment and recovery and the marine environment into which joints and couplings are installed place extreme demands upon them. Each joint and coupling is required to be as compact as possible, whilst having the capacity to withstand extreme tension, twist, pressure and HV stress whilst maintaining the integrity of the optical path. It must be relatively easy to assemble but survive arduous seabed conditions whilst maintaining a low-loss optical fibre path for transmission and full electrical integrity.

In the event of a joint or coupling failing in service or proving impossible to assemble during a shipboard operation, the resultant cost incurred by the failure of a single joint component may be huge compared to the component price itself.

Piece Part and Kit Quality Assurance

The quality management systems of all of the UJC Consortium suppliers are accredited against the relevant standards (i.e. ISO 9001) and they apply rigorous measures to ensure that only components of the highest quality are incorporated in UJ, UC and UQJ kits. Manufacturers of assured quality are utilised for piece part production, working from UJC approved and controlled drawings, using certified material and calibrated measuring equipment. Inspection of joint and coupling components is carried out using instruments calibrated against traceable standards for all critical inspection procedures.

Packaging and Labelling for Storage Life

Joint and Coupling piece parts are packaged to preserve them in operational readiness for 25 years. Kit and component labelling and batch numbering enables traceability from an individual component, back through inspection, manufacture and even to the raw material used in its production.

The UJC suppliers also provide some adhesives and sealants that have a limited shelf life. Labels are applied to these kits giving the date of manufacture, the shelf life and the shelf life expiry date. They are packed in separate kits so that they are easier to manage and replace without breaking the seals on piece part kit cases.

Purchase of Original UJC Components and Kits

For the safe and reliable construction of joints, the UJ Consortium strongly recommends that Cable Owners check that all piece-part kits held for maintenance of their systems are purchased from UJC suppliers and that they have UJC seals in place. Only by doing this can cable owners be sure that the kits are of the highest quality, are ready for immediate use and will perform in accordance with the original design and testing regime.

UJ products can be purchased from any Consortium Member. Contact details of each Consortium Member can be found on the Contacts Page of this website.

Kit Packing 1 jm 200

FAQ's - General

  • 1.01 - What are the UJ products?

    The Universal Joint (UJ) is a solution for connecting different types of submarine optical telecommunication cables, regardless of design or manufacture, using common construction equipment and standard piece-parts in the joint.

    Building on the UJ principles, the UQJ (Universal Quick Joint) has been developed to connect smaller diameter un-repeatered submarine cables taking account of the simpler cable construction and the requirement for a faster and simpler process.

    The UC (Universal Coupler) is a solution for coupling types of submarine optical telecommunication cables to submerged housing (repeater, equalizer, branching unit), regardless of design or manufacture, using common construction equipment and standard piece-parts in the joint.

    UJ, UQJ and UC products are therefore jointing piece parts or jointing tools produced and sold by each Consortium Member.

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  • 1.02 - What is the UJC and who are the UJC?

    UJC is the short name of for the Universal Jointing Consortium made up of four members:

    - Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN)

    - Global Marine

    - KDDI Cableships & Subsea Engineering Inc. (KCS)

    - SubCom

    The UJC members share a common aim to cooperate on the development and maintenance of a standardised cable jointing technology for underwater cables known as Universal Jointing (UJ), Universal Coupling (UC) and Universal Quick Joint (UQJ).

    The origin of universal jointing for fibre optic cables goes back to the late 1980s, when AT&T, BT (Marine) Ltd and Les Cables de Lyon, formed a consortium to supply an universal jointing and coupling solution for installation and maintenance purposes. The aim was to supply a standard jointing technology platform that offers common tools and piece parts for assembly of joints in different cable types. By the early 1990s, the four members listed above were actively involved in the development of the universal jointing technology. The first consortium agreement was signed in 2000 to develop and improve the universal jointing technologies. The members have recently renewed the agreement to continuing their commitment and collaboration in this field.

    Today, the majority of maintenance authorities for undersea telecommunications cables deploy UJ technology and standards on their cable systems worldwide.

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  • 1.03 - What’s the difference between a UJ, a UC and a UQJ?

    The UJ (Universal Joint) and UC (Universal Coupling) are used in medium and long-haul submarine networks where repeaters or optical amplifiers are deployed.

    The UJ provides a connection between cables and the UC provides a connection between a cable and submerged plant optical housing such as a repeater or branching unit.

    The UQJ (Universal Quick Joint) is a cable-to-cable joint for use unpowered short-haul cable systems.

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  • 1.04 - How can I contact the UJC?

    Go to the 'Contact Us' page, where you will find a request form for communicating with the consortium. Our Co-ordinator will follow up your request/comments.

    You will also find the contact details of each Consortium Member, who can also forward your request to the consortium members.

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  • 1.05 - How quickly can I expect an answer to my enquiry?

    We aim to acknowledge receipt of your enquiry within 2 working days. Response time can vary depending on the nature of your enquiry. As a general rule, we target to provide an initial response within 10 working days from the date of receipt.

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  • 1.06 - What is a UJ bulletin?

    A UJ bulletin is an official communication about any universal jointing topic, which has been agreed by all Consortium Members. All UJC Bulletins can be found on our website: http://www.ujconsortium.com. Note: Official UJC Bulletins carry a UJ Consortium logo at the top of the Bulletin. For ease of reference, Bulletins are classified under 6 main categories:

    • Safety
    • New Product
    • Construction Document Change
    • Product Change
    • Information
    • Phase Out
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  • 1.07 - Is there a system or procedure to keep good track of UJ kits and piece parts?

    Traceability of components is one of the fundamentals of the UJC product and as any effective QA system, is assured in the supply and implementation of the technology. For the supply of UJC products, each individual UJC member, as suppliers of the KITs, maintains an effective traceability system for material, manufacturing and inspection records, traceable from the KIT number and unique serial number including on the KIT box labelling. In addition each separate part included within the kit has traceability labelling which allow for the same records to be retrieved.  As such, users of the UJ technology can put in place as well a system that records the sealed KIT’s serial number or details of unkitted piece parts used, through their own QA organisation. Establishing the traceability system in inventory is kits owner’s responsibility. For any enquiry on a KIT’s traceability records the provider of the kit should be contacted in the first instance giving the KIT and serial number. Where the supplier is not known the coordinator should be contacted.

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  • 1.08 - Does the UJC provide consultancy services?

    The UJC does not offer consultancy services but the individual consortium members may provide such service. Customers should contact directly individual consortium members for more information on such services.

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  • 1.09 - Does the UJC provide guidelines on jointing activities management?

    UJC members provide the training and qualification of UJ/UC/UQJ qualified jointers.

    Guidance / recommendation on the size and degree of qualification of operational jointing teams as well as jointing work organization, e.g. equipment sparing or QA organization is outside the UJC remit.  These activities are the responsibility of the companies using or providing marine services.

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  • 1.10 - Does UJC provide marine services?

    No. The UJC’s role is to collaborate on development of common jointing technology. Marine services are not part of the scope of the consortium.

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