In the 80s, ISO 9000 (and BS5750 in Britain) came to the fore to create standards for quality management. The standardisation process strove to introduce methods for continual improvement and ensure consistency and quality. As time moved on, throughout the 90s and 00s, standards have been applied to manufacturing settings more and more, beginning with S88, which governs batch control processes, followed by S95, which defines plant structure to support enterprise asset models.
So, what are these standards and why are they so important?
We’ll look first at S88. In brief, the standard relating to batch control organises processes into a standardised model. With such a model, we can describe steps in the overall process using the same language. What is the outcome? Innovation through smart technologies has a uniform base of understanding to allow for continual improvement rather than stagnation under branching and diffuse avenues as each operator and system designer takes different development paths.
Moving on to S95, the same purpose for standardisation is one of the driving forces in its creation. However, S95 focuses on an organisation’s plant assets, people, and systems hierarchy rather than batch control. Organising your manufacturing operation to an S95 model enables an efficient and logical structure to plant data.
And why would you want this? Once again, continuous improvement is the desired outcome. However, as more intelligent systems are coming to the forefront of competition within the manufacturing industry and are vital to improving quality, profitability and efficiency, additional considerations are required.
Systems fit into the S95 model to provide interoperability between the different levels described in the standard. Taking an S95 lead approach ensures system implementation remains modular and enables the use of systems correctly, following their intended roles and reducing the requirement for repeated data archives.
When integrating multiple systems, following S95 is vital to reduce the risk of errors in information exchange. Ensuring that you are utilising one set of master data and a defined ontology for plant data is essential to unlocking improvements in the long term.
Building an operation that is Fit for the Future is the key message of this article series and following standards to enable future improvements is an important consideration. Layering intelligent systems on top of intelligent systems without considering standards and the correct measures for interoperability can result in a regressive trend rather than a powerfully positive one.
Executing modularity and always building with continuous improvement in mind is crucial. Consultation with expert system integrators can ensure that your operation meets industry standards to provide extensibility and efficiency as you continue your digital transformation journey.
Data is the lifeblood of improvement in manufacturing, and its appropriate use and security are a priority when looking to increase profitability in a competitive environment.
Integrators who have achieved the highly valued ISO27001 certification are following their own set of standards to provide systems that protect your data and provide provisions for extracting maximum value through availability and analysis.
As your operation digitally matures, standards and planning for future rounds of technical evolution put the right foot forward in achieving your goals and building on the positive steps you’ve taken towards a bright future.