The 'Building Block' Concept About the author To be cost effective the system must present key data about the monitored process or procedure to the operators at reasonable cost.
Constraints affecting cost are normally to do with system complexity and quality.
The ideal implementation may not be the most cost-effective solution. Problems such as equipment location can be costly to resolve, as users of the system may not be in the same place as the monitoring or processing equipment. Facility operators may be reluctant to install full-blown systems from the outset but wish to implement a basic system capable of visual warnings at the jetty. Once users realise the benefits of having early warning of potential problems, they may require data displays to show actual conditions such as line loads, current and wind speed etc. A further complication is that stand-alone equipment packages are totally independent in operation, and may be supported by separate vendors, further limiting the effectiveness of the system itself.