Glossary · Safety standards
ISA-88
Also known as: S88, IEC 61512
German: ISA-88
ISA-88 (ANSI/ISA-88, internationally IEC 61512) is the standard series for batch control; it defines reference models for physical equipment (enterprise to control module), procedural control (procedure, unit procedure, operation, phase), recipes and terminology.
- Standards
In one sentence
ISA-88 (IEC 61512) is the batch control standard with models for equipment, procedures and recipes, widely used for modular automation.
Example
A pharmaceutical plant structures its automation by ISA-88: units, equipment modules and phases such as 'Dose', 'Heat' and 'Agitate' that general recipes combine.
How it applies
- Engineering: Separating recipes from equipment control lets products change without reprogramming the equipment; the model is also used in discrete industries and in PackML-style state models.
- Integration: ISA-88 terms and models connect to ISA-95 at the level of manufacturing operations.
- Documentation: Using ISA-88 terms (unit, phase, recipe) consistently in specifications, HMI and manuals reduces misunderstandings; the documentation team should maintain a terminology list aligned with the standard.
- Validation: In regulated industries, ISA-88 structures make validation more manageable, because equipment phases can be qualified once and reused in many recipes.
Concepts such as the ZVEI guide to Module Type Package (MTP) build on ISA-88 ideas of services and state machines for process modules.