Equipment Databanks
Equipment descriptions are kept in the database as two distinct entity collections (databanks):
a) Site-Equipment: These are entities representing equipment that have already been purchased and available for engagement (allocation) in SuperPro modeled processes. They are meant to represent actual units present in a facility that is represented already by a database site. If the equipment are not already in use, they can be included in a “Storage” site.
b) Supplied Equipment: They are meant to represent equipment spec sheets as offered by vendors or manufacturers but not currently owned (purchased) and do not currently exist in any database facility.
Site-Equipment Databank
Equipment entities (just like any resource) can be added to database sites from the Sites & Resources Databank Dialog. There’s another interface that can be used for the same purpose: the Site-Equipment Databank Dialog that appears when selecting } } from the main menu of the application (or hit F4 as a shortcut). Given the large variety of equipment types, this interface offers a few more specialized features over the common interface. From this interface, you can select right away, the equipment type that you are interested, and narrow down the available listings; You could also focus on a specific company site alone or view equipment existing in all company sites.
You may either pick a specific site, or select ‘All Sites’ to inspect the site-equipment contents of all sites in the database. Also, you may choose to view only equipment of certain type, or ‘All Types’. If you select a line in the table of contents representing a site-equipment and then click on the View/Edit Properties (
) button, you will be presented with the Site-Equipment Databank Dialog that can be used to view and/or edit the properties of the selected site-equipment. Also, if you click on the Create/Add New (
) button you will be presented with the New Site-Equipment Dialog that allows you to introduce a new site-equipment. Finally, you can delete a site-equipment by selecting its line in the table of contents and click on the Delete (
) button. Any changes you have made (adding or deleting site-equipment or editing values of existing equipment) are kept as part of the editing session of the dialog but are not made permanent (i.e. written in the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database) until you:
a) Exit the Site-Equipment databank dialog with OK, or
b) Click on the Save Records to Disk (
)button: this will deposit all changes made so far into the ‘User’ database but will not exit this session of the dialog (i.e. will keep the dialog open).
Equipment Spec Sheets Databank
SuperPro Designer allows you to store in the database equipment descriptions (Spec Sheets) as offered by equipment vendors or produced by manufacturers. The ‘SuperPro (User)’ database comes with some definitions for equipment spec sheets for some equipment types. It is mainly there to serve as a demonstration of the use of this feature. Users are encouraged to populate their own ‘SuperPro (User)’ database with such descriptions of equipment, especially for equipment types that are typically included in their own simulations and involving preferred vendors by the corporation.
Basic & User-Defined Equip. Spec Sheets in the SuperPro (User) DB
The spec sheets present in the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database, are considered as belonging to two categories:
a) Basic Spec Sheets
b) User-Defined Spec Sheets
All labor types that are present in the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database upon installation of the program are considered as ‘Basic’. You are free to edit and/or even delete them if you think you will never have a need for some of them. If you have modified the properties of a basic labor type, saved it in your ‘SuperPro (User)’ database and later you change your mind and decide to revert to the property values as they came (‘out-of-the-box’) you can accomplish this by clicking on the 
button. Also, if you have deleted one or more labor types and later you wish to recover (restore) their definitions in your ‘SuperPro (User)’ database, you can click on the 
button There are no essential spec sheets that cannot be deleted. Finally, “User-Defined” equipment spec sheets are all spec sheets that the user has introduced beyond the set of basic spec sheets that came with the software. Of course, user-defined equipment spec sheets can be edited and deleted at any time but once deleted they cannot later be recovered.
Equipment suppliers (see Equipment Suppliers Databank) are supposed to be tagged as either “M” (Manufacturer) or “V” (Vendor) or “V/M” for both. If a supplier does not have the “V” designation, then none of its associated spec sheets will be available for allocation from within a SuperPro Designer recipe. Manufacturer’s spec sheets are only available as reference links to related vendor spec sheets. This is done upon creating a new equipment spec sheet. At that time, the user must choose a) the type of equipment that it applies to and b) the supplier that offers the equipment. If the supplier is a vendor, then this spec sheet can become available for allocation to a SuperPro Designer simulation recipe in lieu of an appropriate/available site-equipment. Optionally, you may choose to link this vendor’s spec sheet to a manufacturer spec sheet. This would be wise to do, if a certain equipment model is offered by multiple vendors. Linking all vendor’s spec sheets describing the same equipment to a single manufacturer spec sheet ensures that they all display the same characteristics for that equipment’s model number. Please note that you can’t apply this “spec sheet to spec sheet link” in spec sheets owned by a manufacturer, since we assume that no equipment manufacturer will simultaneously be a vendor for another brand’s equipment. We do, however, allow you to create a “site equipment to vendor spec sheet” link, if a given site equipment owned (or purchased) by the corporation has (or had) a vendor spec sheet that described its characteristics and from the vendor that was purchased. This link is kept with the description of site equipment mainly as reference of purchase source. Note that updating the properties of a manufacturer’s spec sheet will automatically update all linked vendor spec sheets, but updating the properties of a vendor spec sheet will not automatically update the properties of any site equipment with a link to that spec sheet.
To access the supplied equipment spec sheets databank select } } from the main menu (or hit Shift+F7 as a shortcut). From the Equipment Spec Sheets Databank Dialog that appears, you can view the contents of the equipment spec sheets databank and you can add, delete or modify any user-defined records.
Select a n equipment spec sheet and you will be able to view as well as modify its properties in the databank. First select the equipment spec sheet that you wish to view or modify from the table, and then click on the Edit (
) button. You will be presented with the Equipment Spec Sheet Properties Dialog once again, only this time you can view as well as modify the properties of the selected equipment spec sheet in the databank. You can also add a new equipment spec sheet to the databank, or delete an existing equipment spec sheet that belongs to the ‘User’ database from the databank. To add a new equipment spec sheet to the databank, click on the Add New Spec Sheet (
) button and complete the New Equipment Spec Sheet Dialog. To delete an existing equipment spec sheet, select it and click on the Delete (
) button).
|
|
A new equipment spec sheet introduced in the supplied equipment spec sheets databank can be associated with a specific vendor or manufacturer. If a record of that vendor or manufacturer is not yet part of the equipment suppliers databank, please add it in first (see Equipment Suppliers Databank).
|
|
|
In addition to the default specifications for the selected equipment type, the equipment spec sheet data may also include a list of extra specifications created by the user. These may be needed in order for the user to decide which type to use for a given application. The set of user-specifications can be extended to include practically any feature. For more details, see Specification Variables Databank.
|
Any changes that you have made (adding or deleting equipment spec sheets, or editing the property values of existing equipment spec sheets) are kept as part of the editing session of the dialog; they are not made permanent (i.e. written in the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database) until you:
a) Exit the supplied equipment spec sheets databank dialog with OK, or
b) Click on the Save Records to Disk (
)button: this will deposit all changes made so far into the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database but will not exit this session of the dialog (i.e. will keep the dialog open).
Equipment Suppliers Databank
SuperPro Designer allows you to create a catalog of preferred equipment suppliers (vendors and manufacturers) that your corporation most commonly employs to purchase equipment. A sample of equipment suppliers comes pre-loaded in the Suppliers databank. However, the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database includes only a very small fraction of all possible equipment suppliers that exist in the market. It is mainly there to serve as a demonstration of the use of this feature. Users are encouraged to populate their own ‘SuperPro (User)’ database with such descriptions of equipment suppliers, especially those preferred by their own organization.
To access the equipment suppliers databank, select } } from the main menu (or hit Ctrl+F7 as a shortcut). From the Equipment Suppliers Databank Dialog that appears, you can view the contents of the equipment suppliers databank, and you can add, delete or modify any user-defined records. In more detail:
First select the equipment supplier that you wish to view or modify from the table, and then click on the Edit (
) button. You will be presented with the Equipment Supplier Properties Dialog once again, only this time you can view as well as modify the properties of the selected equipment supplier in the databank.
You can also add a new equipment supplier to the databank, or delete an existing equipment supplier that belongs to the ‘User’ database from the databank. To add a new equipment supplier to the databank, click on the Add New Vendor/Manufacturer (
) button and complete the Equipment Supplier Properties Dialog. To delete an existing equipment supplier that belongs to the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database from the databank, select it and click on the Delete (
) button).
Any changes that you have made (adding or deleting equipment suppliers, or editing the property values of existing equipment suppliers) are kept as part of the editing session of the dialog; they are not made permanent (i.e. written in the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database) until you:
a) Exit the equipment suppliers databank dialog with OK, or
b) Click on the Save Records to Disk (
)button: this will deposit all changes made so far into the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database but will not exit this session of the dialog (i.e. will keep the dialog open).
Equipment Types & Specifications
SuperPro Designer supports the use of many equipment types as hosts of procedures in process simulations. When describing an actual equipment to be included in the databank of site-equipment or an equipment specification sheet to be included in the vendor-equipment databank, the user is expected to provide a list of specifications that are necessary for the characterization of the equipment in a process simulation in a way that matches exactly the properties of that equipment when its sizing is set to ‘Rating Mode’ (see Sizing (Design vs Rating Mode)). This set of specifications is called the ‘Required Specs’. However, if needed, users may also extend the definition of an equipment type by appending several more specifications that may be deemed necessary to retain for their records. This extra set of specifications (called ‘User Specs’) can include any properties currently already in use (such as ‘Diameter’, ‘Height’, ‘Filter Area’ etc.) or users may introduce their own (see Specification Variables Databank).
To view and/or edit the list of specifications for all equipment types supported by the application, use the } } menu item from the main menu (or hit F6 as a shortcut). You will be presented with the Equipment Types & Specifications Dialog where you may view the required specifications (‘Required Specs’) for a given equipment type (as expected by the application) as well as any ‘User Specs’ that may have been added by the user to a selected equipment type. The left-hand-side pane displays all equipment types recognized by the application and organized hierarchically in groups (Filters, Vessels/Reactors etc). Once you select a specific type, the right-hand-side pane displays the Required Specs and the User Specs for the selected equipment type. The list of Required Specs for a given equipment type is not editable. You cannot delete and/or add any new members to it. You may view the properties of any of the required specs by selecting it and clicking on 
. This will present the Specification Properties Dialog (in view-only mode). You may add your own specification by selecting the ‘User-Specs’ folder and then clicking on the Create/Add New (
) button or right-clicking on the ‘User-Specs’ folder and selecting from the menu. The Add Specification Dialog will appear from where you can describe the properties of the new specification. After exiting the dialog with OK a new node will be added the ‘User Specs’ folder and from now on, this new specification will be presented every time a user adds a new site-equipment or vendor-equipment (of the chosen type) in the ‘User’ databank.
|
|
If you cannot find an existing appropriate specification that needs to be added to the description of an equipment type, you can add your own, thereby extending the list of available specification options for this or any other equipment (see Specification Variables Databank).
|
If you no longer need to have an existing ‘User-Spec’ associated with an equipment type, select the node (under the ‘User-Specs’ folder in the right pane) and click on the
button. Editing, adding or deleting a specification as part of an equipment type description, will result in propagating the change to all records of site-equipment or vendor-equipment of this type in the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database. However, these changes will not affect the descriptions of site-equipment or vendor-equipment already allocated in existing simulation files. If users wish to re-align the definitions of site-equipment or vendor-equipment kept in their files, they will have to do it manually (see Equipment Data Dialog: Allocation Tab).
Specification Variables Databank
In SuperPro Designer, every equipment type is characterized by a set of specification variables. When keeping records of equipment in database sites or as vendor-equipment in the database, the user must provide at least the essential features required to describe a piece of equipment in rating mode (these specifications are called ‘Required Specs’). Furthermore, users may extend the description of equipment records with extra specifications (‘User Specs’) that keep features of equipment that need to be viewed by users as they may influence their decisions as to which instance they should engage. To provide those additional ‘User Specs’ users may utilize all existing specification definitions (already used by the application for the description of the ‘Required Specs’) or they can introduce new specifications that will be kept as part of the ‘SuperPro (User)’ databank of specifications.
To access the specifications databanks select } } from the main menu (or hit Shift+F6 as a shortcut). From the Specification Variables Databank Dialog that appear you can view the list of variable specifications that are currently available, as well as add more. After selecting a specification variable, you will be able to view as well as modify the values of specifications as they have been created previously by the user and kept in that databank (click on 
you will be presented with the Specification Properties Dialog in editing mode). You can also add new specification variables (click on the
button and complete the Add Specification Dialog) as well as delete any existing specifications that you no longer need (select the specification line in the table of contents and click on the 
button). Note that for a user-defined specification variable that is already used by either a site-equipment or a vendor-equipment currently recorded in the database, you will not be able to change its type or delete it from the databank. You will have first to remove it from all the ‘User Specs’ list that is currently in use, and then return to this interface to delete or modify it.
Specification Variables Databank
In SuperPro Designer, every equipment type is characterized by a set of specification variables. When keeping records of equipment in database sites or as vendor-equipment in the database, the user must provide at least the essential features required to describe a piece of equipment in rating mode (these specifications are called ‘Required Specs’). Furthermore, users may extend the description of equipment records with extra specifications (‘User Specs’) that keep features of equipment that need to be viewed by users as they may influence their decisions as to which instance they should engage. To provide those additional ‘User Specs’ users may utilize all existing specification definitions (already used by the application for the description of the ‘Required Specs’) or they can introduce new specifications that will be kept as part of the ‘SuperPro (User)’ databank of specifications.
To access the specifications databanks select } } from the main menu (or hit Shift+F6 as a shortcut). From the Specification Variables Databank Dialog that appear you can view the list of variable specifications that are currently available, as well as add more. After selecting a specification variable, you will be able to view as well as modify the values of specifications as they have been created previously by the user and kept in that databank (click on 
you will be presented with the Specification Properties Dialog in editing mode). You can also add new specification variables (click on the
button and complete the Add Specification Dialog) as well as delete any existing specifications that you no longer need (select the specification line in the table of contents and click on the 
button). Note that for a user-defined specification variable that is already used by either a site-equipment or a vendor-equipment currently recorded in the database, you will not be able to change its type or delete it from the databank. You will have first to remove it from all the ‘User Specs’ list that is currently in use, and then return to this interface to delete or modify it.
User-Defined Equipment Cost Model Databank
Another important databank available in SuperPro Designer is the User Defined Cost Models Databank. User-Defined Cost Model or UDCM for short (see The User-Defined Cost Model (UDCM) are used to better estimate the cost of a piece of a equipment if the built-in model produces unacceptable results. If you believe that a given size-to-cost correlation can be useful for predicting the cost in many of your models (for a given equipment type), you can save that UDCM in your ‘User’ database and later engage it in any of your process models. You can introduce in your ‘User’ databank a new equipment-type specific UDCM by one of two ways:
(a) First define a UDCM at a specific equipment resource (with scope restricted to the process file alone, from equipment’s Purchase Cost Adjustments) and later export (deposit) it to the UDCM databank, or
(b) Introduce a UDCM for a given equipment type directly in the UDCM databank (see Viewing the Contents of the User-Defined Cost Model Databank).
In both cases the cost models are ultimately saved in the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database file and grouped by equipment type.
Viewing the Contents of the User-Defined Cost Model Databank
To view and edit the list of available user defined cost models select Databanks Equipment User-Defined Cost Models... (or Shift+Ctrl+F6 as a shortcut) the main menu of the program. You will be presented with the Equipment User Defined Cost Models Databank Dialog, where you may see a list of all available cost models defined in the ‘User’ and ‘Designer’ databases for the currently selected equipment type. Select an equipment type first (at the top drop-down selection control) and then if any UDCM are currently defined in the databank they will fill in the rows of the table shown. Selecting a row and clicking on the View/Edit button (
), will produce the User-Defined Cost Model (UDCM) Dialog for the selected model. Finally you may also delete the user defined cost models residing in the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database by clicking on the Delete button (
).