Why is each sizing counted as one pair?

A sizing checks one valve and actuator together: the torque for a quarter-turn valve or the stem thrust for a linear valve. One pair, one check, one set of hours.

What does review overhead include?

Design checks, revision rounds and coordination with the customer and other disciplines. It is charged as a share of base sizing hours, so a larger package carries more review hours.

Which hours count as available?

Enter the engineering hours the team can give this package in the window, after other projects take their share. A negative margin means the package needs more time or people.

Why did the average hours per sizing row leave?

It repeated the entered hours per sizing, so it carried no new information. The base sizing hours row now shows the calculation total, and the workload row adds review.

Industrial Valves, Actuators & Flow Control calculator

Actuator Sizing Workload Calculator

Find the engineering hours a sizing campaign takes and whether the team's available hours cover it. Each sizing is one pair, one torque or thrust check, so the workload follows the pair count.

What this calculator does

Engineering hours to size valve and actuator pairs, with review overhead and margin against the available hours.

Formula used

Base sizing hours = pairs to size × engineering hours per sizing
Total sizing workload = base sizing hours × (1 + review overhead ÷ 100)
Review and coordination hours = total sizing workload − base sizing hours
Available hours margin = available engineering hours − total sizing workload

Inputs explained

Valve-Actuator Pairs to Size: Valve and actuator pairs that need a sizing check.
Engineering Hours per Sizing: Engineering hours one pair takes from data to sizing.
Review and Coordination Overhead: Review, revision and coordination as a share of base hours.
Available Engineering Hours: Engineering hours the team can give this package.

How to use the result

Best suited to staffing an actuator sizing campaign, checking a sizing package against the week, quoting review time into a valve package.
A sizing that needs vendor data or a site visit takes longer than the estimate. Waiting for customer approval is outside the workload hours.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The U.S. has 21,668 machinery manufacturing establishments employing about 1,086,146 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

Why is each sizing counted as one pair? A sizing checks one valve and actuator together: the torque for a quarter-turn valve or the stem thrust for a linear valve. One pair, one check, one set of hours.
What does review overhead include? Design checks, revision rounds and coordination with the customer and other disciplines. It is charged as a share of base sizing hours, so a larger package carries more review hours.
Which hours count as available? Enter the engineering hours the team can give this package in the window, after other projects take their share. A negative margin means the package needs more time or people.
Why did the average hours per sizing row leave? It repeated the entered hours per sizing, so it carried no new information. The base sizing hours row now shows the calculation total, and the workload row adds review.

Last reviewed 2026-10-01.