One of the most important fluid mechanic concepts involved in piping systems is net positive suction head (NPSH), a measure of the available pressure on the suction-side of a pump, which is required to prevent cavitation (the formation of vapor bubbles in a fluid) from occurring. This is necessary to determine whether a given pump will operate effectively without experiencing cavitation. Another way of understanding NPSH is that it’s the amount of fluid energy at the pump suction in reference to absolute zero energy.

With centrifugal pumps in particular, it’s also important to understand the net positive suction head required (NPSHr). This metric represents the amount of fluid energy required by the pump to operate without cavitation. Pump manufacturers test their pumps to determine the NPSHr over the range of operating flow rates for the pump.

As a member of the ISO/ASME Pump system assessment 14414 standard, the PIPE-FLO team was tasked with developing a method for assessing a pumping system. The assessment considered the entire pumping system, from energy inputs to the work performed. Our primary goal was to determine the current energy consumption, identify ways to improve system efficiency, and present the results in a meaningful way to a diverse team of stakeholders, from technical to financial professionals.

PIPE-FLO simulates how the system operates, but the results are presented in a variety of engineering units, such as head, pressure, horsepower, kiloWatts, and capacity. In order to share the results in an easy-to-understand set of units, the engineers presented the amount of electricity used to power equipment motors each hour as standardized dollars per unit of time. This is otherwise known as the system power cost. 

CPQ solutions are digital programs made to improve the overall effectiveness, speed, and accuracy of your quoting process. They allow customers to customize their products, review an accurate pricing estimate, and receive a quote quickly.

CPQ creates a modern quoting process that empowers customers and removes administrative bottlenecks. These solutions help every department stay on track and work more collaboratively throughout the product life cycle.

Healthcare environments are notoriously complex, with interconnected processes, a wide array of stakeholders across many departments, and stringent regulatory requirements. Introducing new medical equipment or technology requires meticulous planning to ensure compatibility with existing systems and compliance with safety standards. 

The demanding schedules of healthcare professionals leave little room to adapt to change, especially when it comes to training for new equipment or processes. On top of all of this, medical equipment planners are constrained by budget limitations. 

It can be impossible to balance the needs of administrators, practitioners, and patients without project management software specifically designed for the challenges of medical equipment planning and change management. 

Configure, price, quote (CPQ) is a type of software designed to automate the most cumbersome parts of quoting custom and configurable products. CPQ platforms allow industrial machinery manufacturers to upload their product portfolios and make them available to customers through an online web portal. Engineers can program complex configuration rules that determine what types of product attributes customers can modify, as well as constrain the choices to the manufacturer’s limitations. This ensures that customers only build viable products.

Similar to a B2C e-commerce experience, customers can browse the catalog and select their own configurations without the need to utilize any valuable sales resources. After submitting their selections, the system can calculate prices and automatically generate a quote in a fraction of the time of manual processes.