Process instruction categories are standard process instructions that have been predefined in Customizing for Process Management and that usually do not have specific characteristic values assigned. They serve as a kind of template for the process instruction you use in the master recipe and process order.

If you want to create process instructions in the master recipe and process order, you must always enter a process instruction category that has been predefined in Customizing. The characteristics of this process instruction category are copied into the process instruction. You can, however, change or delete the characteristics and assign process-specific values to them. You can thus adjust your process instructions to the specific requirements of your master recipe or process order.

In the process instruction category, you define:

• The information you want to convey in the process instructions, which means that you assign characteristics, and if required, characteristic values to the process instruction category

Using process instruction categories in the master recipe and process order has the following advantages:

• You need to define the structure of similar process instructions only once in a plant.

• Only users defining process instruction categories in Customizing need to have a detailed knowledge of the process control systems and the communication formats they require.
  All other users who create process instructions during process planning can refer to the predefined process instruction categories.