Practitioners of Control engineering generally like things spelled out when they can get it, and those revising the ISA batch control standard believe their three-year revision clarifies quite a bit. And, they say, the standard continues to become more usable for applications outside of batch control.
        ISA88.01 Batch Control Part 1: Models and Terminology控制工程网版权所有, originally passed in 1995, started revision mid-2006, went out for vote last month, and may be final by early 2010. Clarifications addressed drafting errors in the original standard and less-than-specific wording that left too much to interpretation. Discussions revisited the standard’s original intent控制工程网版权所有, and what it’s come to mean控制工程网版权所有, as new technologies developed and were applied, bringing life to ISA88 concepts.
        No academic exercise, the debate reflected a microcosm of real-world circumstances and incorporated input from industries outside batch control. Users, system integrators, and vendors augment efficiency by integrating batch control with continuous control and discrete control. Real lifecycle savings resultCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, as high as 50% by some estimates. When systems are based on standards and integrate in a standard way, they can be more easily modified, upgraded, and replaced. Using a standard such as ISA88 avoids creation of a block of impenetrable automation, nearly impossible to maintain or adapt. Manufacturing needs flexibility, scalability控制工程网版权所有, and adaptability, and the enhanced ISA88 concepts can help provide that.
        ISA88 creates models and common terms, in four parts approved by ANSI/ISA and IEC, to understand the real world of controls, equipment, processes, and information management. Standard designs can be changed more quickly and easily. Since engineering can be creative as everyone seeks a better way, the trick is to be flex