we can use them as well,” says Wonderware’s Dufort.

Before any of these equipment programs are run, users will typically do everything they can to eliminate errors. Modeling makes that much simpler. It’s pretty straightforward to create and run model-based simulations. “You can create simulations to ensure that the equipment does what you want it to do. There will usually be things you miss. Doing process simulations lets you catch problems,” Purvey says.

Recipe for success

Setting up equipment is the big step, but little can occur until managers create formulas and recipes for the products they’re going to make. Here again, the state models within standards simplify the job of determining how materials will be put together.

A critical aspect of these materials is how their distribution and treatment is handled by equipment on the shop floor. One important benefit of standards is that they make it more likely that the people who know how to prepare materials to create an end product can also set up the equipment that will process these materials.

“Procedural models define how you make products. With them, the recipe guys don’t have to know how to program equipment. They can build the equipment operations with Lego blocks so they don’t need to learn how to program,” Purvey says.

This capability also makes it simpler to move these recipes from one facility to another. That’s a big benefit in an era when commodity prices and monetary exchange values change quickly. Being able to move production to another site in order to take advantage of these changes can provide a nice boost in bottom-line profits.

“As technology evolves, you want to be able to upgrade a plant to the latest and greatest without altering your recipes. When you use the processes to define the recipe, you’re not tied to a site or the equipment at a site. Transporting the formula to another site becomes easier, because people are using the same format,” says Siemens’ Stauffer.