Industrial Valves, Actuators & Flow Control worked example

Actuator Sizing Workload at 18% review, revision, and coordination overhead: a worked example

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop review, revision, and coordination overhead to 18%, then walk the calculation through step by step. Estimate total engineering hours needed to complete actuator sizing calculations for a project, based on valve count, average sizing time per valve-actuator pair, and review and revision overhead.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Valve-actuator pairs to size: 24 pairs (held at the documented default)
  • Average engineering hours per sizing: 2.5 hr / pair (held at the documented default)
  • Review, revision, and coordination overhead: 18 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 25)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Base sizing hours = valve-actuator pairs x hours per sizing.
  • Total actuator sizing workload (hours) works out to 11.33 hr at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Base sizing hours (calculation only) works out to 9.6 hr at these inputs.
  • Review and coordination hours added works out to 18 % at these inputs.
  • Sizing calculations completed per hour works out to 2.5 pieces / min at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where review, revision, and coordination overhead sits at 25% and the headline result is 12 hr, this scenario comes in 5.6% below the baseline at 11.33 hr.
  • The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to review, revision, and coordination overhead, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. It assumes uniform complexity per pair, so it understates time when the batch mixes simple on/off ball valves with modulating control valves requiring detailed torque-versus-position and stiffness analysis.

Results at a glance

  • Total actuator sizing workload (hours): 11.33 hr (headline result)
  • Base sizing hours (calculation only): 9.6 hr
  • Review and coordination hours added: 18 %
  • Sizing calculations completed per hour: 2.5 pieces / min

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Actuator Sizing Workload calculator, set review, revision, and coordination overhead to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.