GECE

The Industry worksheet is one of the core intelligence layers inside the GECE tool.

It is essentially the industry-specific tuning engine of the estimator.

Without this sheet, the tool would behave like a generic estimator.
With it, the same project scope produces very different engineering hours depending on:

• industry
• customer type
• safety intensity
• process complexity
• documentation rigor
• sequencing philosophy

Main Purpose of the Sheet

The sheet answers this question:

How much harder or easier is this type of project compared to a normal project?

So instead of using fixed engineering hours globally, GECE dynamically modifies the estimate using industry intelligence.

Structure of the Worksheet

The sheet has 3 major sections:

1. Industry Parameter Database
2. Lookup/Selection Logic
3. Tuned Factors Output

1. Industry Parameter Database

Top section (rows around 6–22).

This is the master table.

Example industries:

• COG – Upstream
• Refinery
• LNG
• Pharmaceutical
• Power
• Municipal
• Food & Beverages

Each row represents a different engineering behavior profile.

Example columns:

• CP_ANA_COMPLEX_REC
• CP_SEQ_COMPLEX_REC
• PM_PCT_TOTAL
• ESD_COMPLEX_REC

These are NOT formulas.

They are calibrated coefficients.

Example:

Pharmaceutical projects→ high documentation→ high validation→ higher sequence complexity→ higher engineering hours

while:

Municipal water projects→ simpler sequencing→ less safety validation→ lower complexity factors

2. Customer Type Logic

The sheet also differentiates:

• EPC
• End User
• Other

This is extremely important commercially.

Because EPC projects usually create:

• more revisions
• more coordination
• more documentation
• more meetings
• more interface management

So:

Same technical scope≠ same engineering effort

depending on customer type.

3.Tuned Factors Section

This is the most important part technically.

Rows around 38+.

Example:

CP_ANA_COMPLEX_REC_TUNED

This is not a fixed value.

It dynamically pulls the correct factor from the industry table.

Formula:

=OFFSET(CUSTOMER_TYPE_TABLE_START,MATCH(INDUSTRY,INDUSTRY_LIST,0)+3,MATCH(CUSTOMER_TYPE,CUSTOMER_TYPE_TABLE,0)+7)

This means:

Step 1:
Find selected INDUSTRY.

Step 2:
Find selected CUSTOMER TYPE.

Step 3:
Navigate to the corresponding parameter cell.

Step 4:
Return tuned factor.

So GECE behaves almost like a rule engine.

Example: SIS/ESD Complexity

Example fields:

• ESD_COMPLEX_REC
• ESD_GRP_START_COMPLEX_REC

These represent hidden engineering effort from:

• shutdown logic
• cause & effect
• interlocks
• permissives
• voting logic
• sequence testing
• FAT/SAT validation

Example conceptual logic:

Basic loop= 1x effortComplex ESD loop= 3x–10x effort

depending on industry.

That is why refinery and pharma factors are higher.

PM Factors

Example:

PM_PCT_TOTALPM_IA_PCTPM_BUYOUT_PCT

These automatically add indirect engineering hours.

Example:

Application Engineering Hours→ multiplied by PM percentage→ generates Project Management hours

So PM effort scales automatically with project complexity.

IO Optimization Factors

Example:

IO_OPTIMISATION_EXP_RATEIO_OPTIMISATION_MAX_REDUCTION

These model engineering economies of scale.

Meaning:

100 IOs≠ 10 × effort of 10 IOs

because repetition reduces marginal effort.

This is one of the smartest parts of GECE.

It models:

• template reuse
• engineering repetition
• standardization
• bulk generation efficiency

using exponential reduction curves.

Application-Specific Logic

Fields like:

• APP_1_NAME
• APP_1_HOURS

allow custom industry applications.

Example:

Pipeline leak detectionBoiler optimizationAdvanced APCBurner management

Each can inject additional hours into the estimate.

Why This Sheet Is So Important

This worksheet is essentially the bridge between:

Raw quantities

and:

Real-world engineering behavior

Without it:

• all industries would estimate similarly
• safety-heavy projects would be underestimated
• EPC overhead would disappear
• hidden engineering effort would not be captured

This list is extremely important because it reveals the entire architecture philosophy of the Industry sheet.

What you are seeing are not ordinary named ranges.

They are the “resolved dynamic outputs” of the Industry intelligence engine.

Meaning:

Industry + Customer Type→ lookup logic→ tuned parameter→ stored in D-column resolved cells→ exposed globally via Named Ranges

So the whole workbook later consumes:

• CP_ANA_COMPLEX_REC_TUNED
• PM_PCT_TOTAL_TUNED
• ESD_COMPLEX_REC_TUNED

instead of directly reading the industry tables again.

This is a very clean architecture actually.

Core Design Philosophy

The sheet acts like a:

Central Configuration Resolver

The D-column cells are effectively:

“final selected configuration values”

for the currently selected:

• Industry
• Customer Type

Important Structural Pattern

Notice the clustering:

A) IO Optimization Logic

IO_OPTIMISATION_EXP_RATE_TUNEDIO_OPTIMISATION_MAX_REDUCTION_TUNED

These control estimation scaling efficiency.

Meaning:

• larger projects gain engineering reuse
• repeated loops reduce marginal effort
• templates lower average hours

This is essentially:

Economy-of-scale modeling

inside the estimator.

Very sophisticated for an Excel estimator.

B) PM Overhead Model

PM_PCT_TOTAL_TUNEDPM_IA_PCT_TUNEDPM_BUYOUT_PCT_TUNED

This is indirect effort modeling.

The tool automatically adds:

• coordination
• meetings
• subcontractor management
• interface handling
• reporting

based on industry behavior.

Example:

Refinery EPC→ high PM %OEM skid package→ lower PM %

C) Control Processor (CP) Complexity

CP_ANA_COMPLEX_REC_TUNEDCP_DIG_COMPLEX_REC_TUNEDCP_SEQ_COMPLEX_REC_TUNED

This is one of the most valuable sections.

It models hidden engineering effort caused by:

• advanced control strategies
• sequencing
• interlocks
• shutdown behavior
• startup logic
• analog complexity

Example:

Simple DI point≠complex analog cascade loop

even if IO counts are identical.

This is where “real engineering reality” enters the tool.

D) DI Section

DI_COMPLEX_REC_TUNEDDI_SEQ_COMPLEX_REC_TUNED

DI here means:

Device Integration

This models external systems integration effort:

• PLCs
• package units
• analyzers
• third-party skids
• Modbus interfaces
• OPC integration

These projects explode in hours because of:

• interface debugging
• protocol mismatches
• vendor coordination
• FAT alignment

The estimator explicitly models this.

Very advanced conceptually.

E) ESD/SIS Logic

This is probably the most intelligent part.

ESD_COMPLEX_REC_TUNEDESD_GRP_START_COMPLEX_REC_TUNEDESD_MISC_CAB_REC_TUNED

These factors model:

• SIL rigor
• shutdown matrices
• voting logic
• permissives
• proof testing
• FAT intensity
• safety validation

This is exactly why the automotive engineer recognized similarities to ISO 26262 estimation.

Because structurally:

Safety Integrity→ Verification Explosion→ Documentation Explosion→ Engineering Hours Explosion

exists in both worlds.

F) Duration-Based Estimation

Huge section:

DURATION_BASED_*

This means GECE supports:

Time-distributed engineering models

instead of only quantity-based models.

Example:

• controls %
• testing %
• documentation %
• meetings %
• site %
• review %
• implementation %

This is extremely important because many engineering projects are schedule-driven.

Meaning:

Longer project duration→ more coordination→ more PM→ more meetings→ more reviews→ more site support

even if IO counts remain unchanged.

Most estimators completely miss this.

G) FAT/Test Modeling

TEST_PRE_FAT_REC_TUNEDTEST_FAT_REC_TUNED

These estimate:

• internal testing
• dry runs
• integrated FAT
• customer FAT
• debugging cycles

This is usually severely underestimated in real projects.

H) Application Injection Logic

APP_1_NAME_TUNEDAPP_1_HOURS_TUNED...APP_8_NAME_TUNED

This is basically:

Custom engineering package injection

Meaning industry-specific applications can add fixed hours.

Example:

• burner management
• APC
• leak detection
• compressor anti-surge
• historian integration

This gives GECE modular extensibility.

Architectural Insight

The most important realization:

The workbook is NOT:

IO × fixed hours

It is actually:

Context-aware engineering behavior modeling

That is why the tool feels much closer to expert estimation than normal calculators.