The Importance of Application Engineering and Key Factor to Consider in Equipment Selection

In the demanding world of the industrial/manufacturing facilities the design and implementation of new or upgraded systems is a job to be developed with an integrated team of professionals and technicians in order to make the best decisions ensuring that the machinery to be purchased suits the best way the application is intended to perform.

The main importance of Application Engineering is to form a link between a manufacturer and customers around the world, an application engineer will have in-depth understanding of engineering principles and manufacturing processes and have excellent communication skills that leads to the second importance: Guide and recommend the best alternatives for the application needs. Applications engineers work directly with customers to understand their specific technical requirements and ensure that the manufacturer’s product meets them.

In most cases applications engineers will be requesting adaptations and enhancements to their company’s existing product technology; however, they might also initiate the design and development of a completely new product for a new market sector or application type.

At INEQUIP we are solving customer’s technical problems in a very wide range of different industries and a vast range of products and applications like: Sensing/Indicating: Level Indicators, Pressure Transmitters, Pressure Gauges, Temperature Sensors like Thermocouples, RTDs, Bi-Metal Thermometers, Temperature Transmitters. Flow Control: Flowmeters, Flow Transmitters. Valves: Actuated Control Valves, Ball Valves, Globe Valves, Butterfly Valves, Check Valves. Pumps and Compressors and many other equipment and industrial supplies.

Equipment selection is as much an art of application as a science of technology. Today, refinements to manufacturing, increasingly advanced controls, and changing end-user needs determine both the science of technology and the roster of equipment for selection. Compounding this, over the past 15 years, a strong increase in customer needs related to best-value considerations, such as risk, aesthetics, longevity, maintenance, and efficiency, have added complexity to the determinants that need to be evaluated in equipment selection.

Key factors to have in mind when selecting equipment are:

1. Initial cost: Budgets are a strong consideration, and engineers must limit the equipment options to meet first-cost requirements. The total cost of installation including time, material, infrastructure, and opportunity costs must be evaluated.
2. Suitability: Equipment selection must be suitable to the application. An example of unsuitability is chilled water in a data center. It is efficient at moving heat, but the presence of water (even with containment) is a risk that must be evaluated.
3. Lead time, start-up/commission-ability: Aspects such as equipment procurement or tradesman installation time must be evaluated. For example, a piece of equipment that requires a highway shutdown so it can be transferred to the site will have an impact, as will the job site if the equipment must be moved via crane into place. Also, consider whether a piece of equipment can reside in the factory for an extra week if the construction schedule is unexpectedly impacted.
4. Ease and cost of operations and maintenance: Do the evaluated equipment-selection aspects account for how preventive maintenance technicians will access the equipment, maintainability, etc.
5. Total cost of ownership: This entails first cost and all other major fixed and variable costs associated with the lifetime of the equipment evaluated at net-present value (NPV) against alternatives for selection. This aspect allows engineers to look at incremental factors, such as the benefit of variable frequency drives (VFDs) on water pumps.
6. Experience and reputation of the equipment manufacturer: This aspect examines the potential of sourcing partners for equipment. Engineers, owners, and contractors have preferred partners. These manufacturers have gained favor through positive experiences. An engineer must understand the needs and be wary of marketing or prejudiced specifications.
7. Safety: This is an area every engineer must consider in equipment selection. What is safe to construct, operate, and maintain must be evaluated. For example, discussions with owners and contractors over what and where with regard to safety concerns can integrate project delivery and increase health and safety.

We can offer the best solutions in equipment selection taking care of all key factors to offer you the equipment that best suits your needs:

• Measuring and Indicating: Level, Pressure, Temperature and Flow
• Bearings
• Electric Motors
• Pumps
• Valves
• Specialty Hoses and Piping
• Control and Automation 
• Specialty Tools
• Industrial Supplies
• Raw Material