Glossary · Automation fundamentals, platforms and components
Automation pyramid
Also known as: Automation hierarchy
German: Automatisierungspyramide
In industrial automation, the automation pyramid is a layered model of plant IT and OT, commonly shown as field level, control level, supervisory level, operations management (MES) and enterprise level (ERP). It is related to the functional hierarchy of ISA-95 / IEC 62264.
- Automation components
In one sentence
The automation pyramid is a layered model of plant systems, from field devices and controllers up to MES and ERP at the enterprise level.
Example
An architecture diagram places sensors at the field level, PLCs at the control level, SCADA above them, and MES and ERP at the top of the pyramid.
How it applies
- Engineering: The pyramid helps assign functions and data flows to layers and defines where time requirements are strict (bottom) and where data volumes and planning horizons are larger (top).
- Security: Zone models based on IEC 62443 often follow the pyramid's layers, with conduits between them.
- Documentation: Use the pyramid as an orientation diagram in system descriptions, but name the actual systems and interfaces; readers need to know which product sits at which level and how data moves.
Pyramid vs. ISA-95 levels
ISA-95 / IEC 62264 defines functional levels 0 to 4, from the physical process to business planning. The pyramid is an informal illustration that uses similar layers, and names and number of levels vary between sources. Networked and edge-based architectures (IIoT) increasingly bypass strict layer-by-layer communication, so the pyramid describes functions better than cabling.