PP - PI-PCS Interface: Linking of Process Control Systems 

Many different types of control system are used in the process industries. While some production lines are controlled by fully-automated, sophisticated process control systems, others are still mainly manually-operated with a low level of automation.

SAP has designed the PI-PCS interface to link PP-PI with manually-operated, partially-automated, and fully-automated lines. In Customizing, you can adapt this interface to meet individual requirements by defining:

·        Information for control (control recipes)

·        Information from control (process messages)

The interface meets the degree of automation of the line by offering the possibilities of:

·        Complete process link

·        External entry of control recipe data

The PI-PCS interface described here is used to transfer all the information relevant to production. If the Quality Management (QM) application component is to be installed, you can use the QM-IDI interface.

Confirmation of order-related data via the PI-PCS interface replaces order-related confirmations via PP-PDC.

The PI-PCS interface enables the download of control recipes to the lower-level control system and the upload of process-related data in the form of process messages. In addition, it can be used to download general data on characteristics that make up control recipes and process messages.

Control recipes are used to transfer the following data:

·        Process and control parameters

·        Texts with instructions for the line operator in the case of lines that are manually operated (either fully or partially)

·        Information on process messages that are to be returned

Process messages supply information on:

·        Status of process orders

·        Consumption and production of materials

·        Status of resources

·        Selected process events

They are used for creating electronic batch records and production records, and for updating the process order and material stocks.

You can transfer the following general characteristic data to an external system:

·        Technical data such as the format and characteristics group

·        Allowed characteristic values