Economic Benefits of Microprocessor Controlled Power Plants

This paper documents cost savings realized through the deployment of microprocessor controlled Battery Plants for Telephone Offices. The savings are made possible through a stored program controller that continually monitors plant current, voltage, alarms and provides diagnostics. The remote monitoring capability of this intelligent and fully intergrated system can be used to transmit information and in some cases, allow unattended the power plant operation. A built-in diagnostic capability coupled with remote transmission also reduces troubleshooting time, and offers considerable economic benefits. The following study uses data supplied by Pacific Bell to quantify the substantial engineering craft and clerical savings for each operation. The savings are cross referenced to each feature of the microprocessor controller that makes them possible. At all times, office integrity is maintained and reliability and safety are fully satisfied. On identifying the labor savings, the following is a summary of the methodology used and the results derived. First, the total staffing needed to maintain and support all power plants included in the control group was researched. The control group consists of the entire Southern California Area and includes approximately 1,200 plants. The total staffing was divided into labor categories such as craft, maintenance engineers, power engineers and clerical employees. Each of their job duties and job functions was researched and recorded. Secondly, the potential labor saving features of the microprocessor plant were identified and cross-referenced according to job functions.