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Kelani Cables launched a wire calculator mobile application designed to calculate the wiring for household and industry usage, on Thursday (15 June).
Introducing the app at the gala Knowledge Forum, Kelani Cables PLC Technical Operations Manager C. Eng. Shyama Perera stated: “We have developed this app to drive the customer convenience. It is like a basic guide for an engineer, for a consultant, for a technician to facilitate the processing decision.”
Perera added that the app is also designed to function “like a tool to double check a manual calculation and a manual selection”. Noting the convenience of an application of this kind, Perera stated: “It can be used anytime. If you are at a site and don’t have any technical information; you can use it on your phone or on your laptop.”
The application caters to two groups of customers at the household and industry level, and is designed to calculate the cable requirements. Presenting images of the application’s interface, Perera ran the audience through the household and industrial categories.
The household section of the wire calculator has simple features and is limited up to a 25 mm square cross section and to single phase applications, Perera stated. Under this section if customers know the current level or kilowatt of an equipment they require wiring for, these details can be entered in the app and the cable type can be calculated. Customers can also enter the horsepower 
value for motors, based on which the wire calculator can generate the supply needed.
The industrial section of the wire calculator caters to project managers, engineers and those at the technical level and requires more detailed input. Under this section, the customers are required to provide input on the current or KVA capacity of a transformer and select the voltage drop (a limit for the maximum voltage drop has been set), cable length, core (single core or multi core), material of the cable (copper or aluminium), type of cable (armoured or unarmoured), and very importantly the installation method.
Perera stated that while there are certain limitations with the app in its current form, such as it being designed for only a multicore system, the team is working on a more sophisticated application so that customers can avail the cable that is most accurate for their purpose. “We are going to launch this app, but we are working on a more sophisticated app without all these limitations. We are going to put all the derating factors into this app so then you can get a cable which is very accurate.”
The app can be accessed on android via the play store, on IOS via the app store and on Windows as well. On the computer, the app can be accessed online through ‘calculator.kelanicables.com’. While the application is presently available for android users, it will only be up and running for IOS and windows users in two weeks, Perera informed. The application is available in all three languages of Sinhala, Tamil and English.
This announcement of Kelani Cable’s foray into the mobile application arena, came after the keynote address by LAUGFS Holding Founder/Chairman, W.K.H. Wegapitiya at the ‘Kelani Knowledge Forum – 2017’ held at Waters Edge.
–Pix by Ruwan Walpola
