Because I/O on Demand represents a significant shift in how most types of I/O are engineered and implemented, it can be a challenge to decide just what options to use in a particular project. And while plant practices and application requirements may dictate the mix of I/O on Demand platforms chosen, figuring out how much money you could save relative to the traditional way of doing things just got a whole lot easier.
Enter IOonDemandCalculator.com, a new website created by Emerson Process Management to help you estimate project cost savings—and impact on project schedule—based on the mix of electronically marshalled, wireless and fieldbus I/O you expect to deploy.
The essential information you'll need to know includes:
- The total number of I/O required.
- Average facility distances, from the control room to the field junction boxes and from the field junction boxes to the devices.
- Percentage of spare I/O capacity desired.
- Also, because certain choices will have different implications for the ability of a project to accommodate late-stage revisions without delaying the schedule, you'll be asked to estimate:
- The number of I/O typically affected by change orders.
- The number of people engaged in the project.
Once these essential project parameters have been entered into the calculator, you can estimate the project costs savings and the impact on delivery schedule for different mixes of I/O on Demand platform options relative to a conventionally wired and marshalled system. The essential options include electronically marshalled in a central control room, electronically marshalled in field junction boxes, fieldbus and wireless.
Sample Calculation
Take, for example, a project with a total I/O count of 5,000, 20% spare I/O capacity and average control-room-to-junction-box and junction-box-to-field-device distances of 200 m and 20 m, respectively.
I/O on Demand = Less Wires
If 20% of I/O are electronic marshalled in the control room, 30% are electronically marshalled in field junction boxes, 30% of I/O points are implemented using wireless and 10% using fieldbus, the I/O on Demand Calculator indicates that you stand to save $8.11 million in project costs relative to conventional wiring practices.
Further, if 500 I/O points (10% of the total) are estimated to be subject to change orders, and 100 people are working on the project, the I/O on Demand Calculator indicates that this mix of I/O on Demand platforms can potentially eliminate 44.9 man-project days and 1,867 man-hours of work.
While these initial project cost savings are nothing to sneeze at, it's important to note that they do not take into account the longer-term benefits afforded by electronic marshalling and a wireless infrastructure.
Indeed, once a project is done, the I/O on Demand savings have only just begun.
Visit IOonDemandCalculator.com to estimate how much you could save on your next capital project.
