So thats what they have come up with in their initial meetings, all and all I am looking at possibly 7 inputs and 3 outputs. And in all honesty, knowing how things go, they will change their wish list on a regular basis!
Out of all the ideas on this thread, that one is definitely the surest bet. As soon as management see you do one thing with it, they'll want more and more done. That's why I'd be putting in the effort now to make it more or less endlessly expandable - which to me looks like networking the place!
If management have already started expanding from the original brief, you've got a good case to argue too, when it comes to getting the funds...
"...in just two weeks the scope has expanded from a not just to b. but right through to e. If you want the ability to keep doing this, then stump up the money, let's do it properly, and we can future-proof things so that you can expand all the way to z at a much lower long-term cost."
Good luck!