This month, Automation World looks at the tools, techniques and standards being used by some successful companies to keep their batch automation processes more finely tuned.
One way to make the bottom line sing is to ensure seamless integration between business-level systems and batch manufacturing control systems. More effective exchange of data can lead to more profitable decision making. In a story beginning on page 34, Automation World Managing Editor Wes Iversen looks at how the Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society’s ISA-95 standard breaks down communication barriers to help ease the integration task.
On a similar note, the ISA-88 batch control standard provides a common language for the transfer of recipe data. For process control engineers, the standard provides a foundation to achieve operational excellence in recipe management and batch processing. Automation World Editor In Chief Gary Mintchell takes a look how several manufacturers are successfully applying ISA-88, in an article that starts on page 41.
In the batch manufacturing world, Foundation Fieldbus and Profibus standards, among others, have connected the plant. Now, Ethernet standards are taking that data to the manufacturing execution system and enterprise resource planning system levels. Contributing Editor Rob Spiegel examines the trends in a story beginning on page 47.
A predict-and-prevent approach to maintenance can yield more fruit than a fail-and-fix mentality, as shown in an article that begins on page 53, by Contributing Editor James R. Koelsch
