WBF, OMAC and ISA work to develop new standard project

04/26/2005

he Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society (ISA) and The Open Modular Architecture Controls Users' Group (OMAC) have announced Make2Pack, a joint working group sponsored by World Batch Forum (WBF). The WBF, the OMAC Packaging Working Group, and the ISA SP88 committee, is working to leverage ISA-88 batch standard principles and the PackML state model to help develop ANSI/ISA-88.00.05.

The Make2Pack workgroup is harmonizing the ISA standard and OMAC guidelines to develop conceptual models, terminology and examples for industrial automation that can be applied to the total manufacturing process. The focus of the workgroup is on batch processes, packaging and converting machinery.

"Our goal is to apply ISA's S88 modular philosophy and define a library of component behaviors and techniques that apply to the automation needs of all manufacturing," said Dave Chappell, section manager for batch technologies at Procter & Gamble in Westchester, Ohio and chair of WBF's Make2Pack initiative. The group plans to issue a preliminary report or guideline in 2005/2006 with the ANSI/ISA standard expected to follow in 2006/2007.

When applied within industry, this standard will increase the profitability, flexibility and efficiency of manufacturing and packaging processes. Through uniform machine design, it reportedly will also improve maintainability.

"The increasing need for manufacturing agility demands that we cut across the different silos and departments, speak the same language, and model processes the same way," explained Thinus van Schoor, OMAC Member and Automation Manager for SAB Miller. "If we can merge our process and discrete manufacturing operations, we will generate great efficiencies for our corporations."

The group is chartered with better integrating "making" and "packing." In addition to the ANSI/ISA-88 standards implications, there are also clear ties to the forthcoming ISA-95.00.03 standard, which covers manufacturing operations management activities.