The use of optical fibers for telecommunications is growing and, as a result, so does the number of researches related to their productive processes. This paper presents the most common production systems for polymeric optical fibers, as well as provides a comparative analysis of some key researches aimed at improving quality or reducing costs of production. The Material Flow Analysis, MFA, methodology is employed to propose qualitative conceptual models capable of easy adaptation to the presented researches. Additionally, a comparative analysis is made between environmental factors existing in each of the discussed studies. In conclusion, the paper highlights the importance of field studies for the construction of MFA with quantitative data, as well as compiles the results obtained by the authors of the addressed researches.
Optical fiber; material flow analysis; polymers; telecommunication
