Process Stage 

Definition

The highest element in a process that leads to a planned series of chemical or physical changes to a material (see process stage as per ISA S88).

Use

To create a process stage, you have the following options:

●     You create the process stage as a dependent object in the recipe or process building block.

●     You create the process stage as an independent building block. You can then use this building block as a copy template and copy it to a recipe or a process building block.

Structure

A process can consist of several process stages, which, in turn, can consist of a sequence of several process operations. The process stages can be structured in the process in series, in parallel, or both. Process stages can normally operate independently of other process stages.

You can link a process stage to a formula. When you create a recipe or a process building block, you use the selected recipe type or process type to decide whether the process stage should contain an independent formula or a dependent formula.

If you want to carry out a quality inspection in the process stage, enter data for inspection characteristics, methods, and sampling methods, and so on in the stage.

You can create process stages from a pool of existing process element building blocks.

Example

Examples for process stages in the production of PVC are polymerization, recovery, and drying (see Process Model).