ISA95 is short for ANSI/ISA95. It consists of models and terminology required for sharing plant data with manufacturing execution systems (MES) and business systems. While it’s not technically a standard, it does offer definitions that can be used as a model for plant engineers to communicate effectively with other areas of the corporation and with partners.

ISA95 was introduced in 1995 to resolve integration issues and lower the cost of tying the plant to the enterprise. According to the Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society, ISA95 provides common terminology, information exchange, workflows, best practices, models, activities and functions.

ISA describes ISA95 as consisting of five main parts:

ISA-95.01 Models and Terminology

Part one includes the models and terminology that are used to determine what data should be exchanged between manufacturing and ERP systems.

ISA-95.02 Object Model Attributes

Part two introduces the object model attributes that are used for the information exchange between systems and offers the foundation for relational database design.

ISA-95.03 Activity Models

Part three concentrates on the activities and functions that take place at the MES product level and enables users to compare and standardize different site production processes.

ISA-95.04 Object Models and Attributes

Part four is the highest level and is often called the level of ERP systems where financial and logistic activities are executed. These activities are not directly related to production, but rather include the plant schedule, material use, delivery and shipping. It deals with inventory levels and can help ensure materials are delivered on time to the right place for production.

ISA-95.05 B2M Business to Manufacturing Transactions

Part five is presently in draft form. Its goal is to take ISA95.04 a step further to define the operation between the production automation system and the business system.

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