The Five Steps to a Successful Automation Project Budget realistically. You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear. Paying less for something that doesn't work is not saving money. Know what you getting from your controls selection and the integrator up front, be specific. Consider purchasing "blanket" time from the integrator. These are blocks of time usually purchased at a discount from your integrator to work with you or your staff on planning or implementing projects. This will allow you to use your integrators expertise on several projects and can keep your budget in line. Plan for the future. The most important step in an automation project is planning. Look toward the future now for expanding your project to include communications and compatibility with other systems. Spending more for an Ethernet capable processor is often less than adding a communications package later. Allow for additional I/O points on your equipment. We recommend at least 20% spare input and 10% spare output capability on most projects. Having spare I/O wired and terminated in your panel is a time and headache saver for those "bells and whistles" someone will surely want to add later. Commonality. Look at the way other programs in your plant are structured. If you don't have programming specifications, write them, or have your integrator write them for you. Downtime is broken down into a Search vs. Repair ratio. In most cases the time it takes to find a problem is greater than the time it takes to repair the problem. Having your programming following the same structure from one machine to the next means less search time for your technicians when problems do arise, and less training time on new equipment. Reporting / Indication. Report as much of the status of your process as feasible to your interface. Tank levels, temperatures, switch status, etc. are well worth the money and time invested. An indication on the screen gives the operator and machine repair technician direction as to where and why a problem is occurring and leads to faster repair times. Documentation. Insist on complete and logical documentation. Identify I/O points in the programming documentation with references to the sheet and line number of your electrical drawings. Assign I/O and wire numbering in a logical easy to follow fashion. Specify to your integrator what you want specifically in regards to documentation and wire numbering schemes. When possible have all documentation, including device "cut sheets" on one master CD ROM. This will be invaluable when the paper copies are lost or no longer legible.