Bringing home the batch

摘要

Standard gives structure to complex process. Whether because of tighter budgets, control centric engineering groups, or other reasons, some users still conduct batch operations manually. Even if they use the ISA-88 standard as a project philosophy, they still have a hard time justifying the additional batch management software. They will implement projects by writing extensive control logic in the PLC or DCS rather than using a batch management software product. When the project is approved, an automation project will use the ISA-88 batch philosophy during implementation, but not the actual ISA-88 batch management system. Although on the surface batch processing may appear to involve little more than turning things on and off, it can be deceptively complex. This complexity can add costs and jeopardize quality and consistency, which become critical in regulated industries such as food and pharmaceuticals.