Best Thinking for Batch Processing: ISA-S88

In 1995, ISA approved one of its first standards for batch processing, called ISA-S88, or simply S88. These standards provided a framework for the design and operation of batch facilities, specifying terminology, process models, data structures and more.

There were many breakthroughs the standard helped to facilitate and certainly in s88.01 terminology and models was one of them. Another fundamental area was in separating Recipes from Equipment or equipment independent recipes. This separation created immediate value in helping to design, operate, and maintain agile and flexible batch manufacturing plants where modularity and reuse of recipes and elements of the plant equipment model could be defined and further developed into objects and libraries.

Communicating with the Enterprise: ISA-S95

What ISA-88 did for batch production, ISA-95 did for enterprise connectivity. Applicable not only to batch facilities but to continuous and discrete processing operations as well, it effectively provided a standard for developing an interface between plant-level control systems and enterprise-level information systems. Like S88, S95 provided a consistent terminology as well as information models and operations models that could serve as a foundation for developing application functionality and described how information should flow and be viewed.

The Benefits of Standards

These S88 and S95 standards have been widely accepted by the Batch manufacturing community. This has allowed enterprises to improve communication, promote modularity, reduce maintenance costs and downtime, and improve overall performance. The savings can be substantial. According to the ISA, plants using batch processing can save up to 30% off the cost of designing and implementing a batch processing system from scratch, and save domestic operations up to 15% off the cost of meeting FDA criteria for automation reliability.

Leveling the Playing Field

Automation standards have helped to level the playing field and allow tight collaboration throughout the manufacturing community. If you're not operating according to these standards, you may be at a serious disadvantage in terms of efficiency, leverage of best practices, and communication. Those working with a legacy batch control system may be missing out on the efficiencies that competitors are using to cut costs and improve quality. In other words, if you're not playing on the newly leveled playing field, it's hard to win.

Proficy Batch: Embracing Standards for Success

GE Fanuc's Proficy Batch Execution, our state-of-the-art solution for batch control, embraces batch standards, allowing you to boost production efficiency, address regulatory concerns and improve time-to-market. Our Proficy Batch Analysis module provides the information and the context you need to reduce variability and increase quality to achieve your "golden batch" consistently. Our Proficy Batch offering is tightly linked to our process control system, Proficy Process Systems and also Open to work with other industry control platforms.