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electrikel

quoting how long it takes to wire a panel

8 posts in this topic

Does any one have a formula to estimate how long it should take to wire a control panel?

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I price a job from experience only - no magic formula.

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Thank you, I said the same thing but my boss insists there is a formula to go by.

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There is: Total cost = (Hours to Wire X Dollars per Hour) + Experience factor

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It is one of those things where a simple formula is rarely the answer. Does it take longer to wire a 90x72x36 enclosure with a main breaker 300HP VFD and line reactor, or a 36x36x12 enclosure with PLC, I/O relays and operators/indicators on the door? Is there one piece or 50? It is rarely as simple as $x per square foot, although that would be nice.

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I second the previous entries. There is no magic formula for determining this cost, ti all comes from experience. Sounds like your boss has zero experience building panels. Like Shiner said if it has a PLC in it that adds significant cost simply for the tedious task of making all those connections, add in Remote I/O, Device Net, Control Net, etc..... and this adds even more. What is your current process for determining this cost and/or laying out a panel? Maybe this is a stupid question but are you on the OEM or end user side? Panel layout, design and building is almost an entire branch of equipment design engineering discipline all by itself. Kind of like troubleshooting you either understand it or you don't, not everyone can troubleshoot a process or a piece of equipment.

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The only thing I can offer is time you have spent on quoting the job design time drawing time cost of materials cost of sundries (cable, DIN rail etcetera and thing s you may have forgotten) cost of labour to wire the panel (always an experienced guess) programming time commissioning time profit margin That is how I work it out in a spread sheet All the labour components are a bit of a guess - there is never a formula

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Can your boss elighten us all of this formula to go by...... ? = B + S

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