Aggregation: Making available data from many sources, most often databases.
Contextualization: Providing a structure, or model, for the data that will help users find what they need. Usually a folder tree utilizing a hierarchy such as the ISA-95 standard.
Analysis: Enabling users to analyze data across sources and especially across production sites. This often includes the ability for true ad hoc reporting.
Visualization: Providing tools to create visual summaries of the data to alert decision makers and call attention to the most important information of the moment. The most common visualization tool is the dashboard.
Propagation: Automating the transfer of data from the plant-floor up to enterprise-level systems such as SAP, or vice versa.
