The painkiller for batch control headaches

The world of batch control is a complicated one, containing many of the issues common to continuous processes, as well as such concerns as complex sequential control, product variation, dynamic scheduling and lot tracking. Many different and poorly structured approaches have been taken to these problems, and communication between vendors and users has been troublesome. The newly defined ISA standard, ``SP88, Part 1: Batch Control Terminology,`` brings a large degree of order to the batch control process. SP88 provides definitions of many of the common elements of batch process equipment and recipe steps. In addition, it provides a methodology for logically arranging batch process control, so that the process is understandable and, most importantly, verifiable. Part 1 of this article introduces the important terms and concepts of SP88 along with recommendations for their implementation. In Part 2, a method is proposed to streamline the process of designing and constructing batch manufacturing facilities.