ISA-88 Automation Standard Gains IEC PAS Status

In a collaborative effort between The Instrumentation, Systems, andAutomation Society (ISA, www.isa.org)and the InternationalElectrotechnical Commission (IEC, www.iec.ch),a widely used ISAstandard has gained Publicly Available Specification (PAS) status.

ANSI/ISA-88.00.03-2003 "Batch Control Part 3: General and Site RecipeModels and Representation" is the first in the ISA-88 series to bereleased as an IEC PAS. The standard, commonly used in pharmaceuticalmanufacturing, defines a model for general and site recipes that aredesigned to be duplicated at any plant, thereby allowing manufacturerswith multiple plants to be consistent in production quality.

PASs were introduced in 1997 in response to the internationalautomation industry's request for rapid standardization in areas ofrapidly developing technology. IEC PASs are designed to offer validguidance in a shorter time than a consensus-based internationalstandard can be made available, but are expected to be transformed intoIEC International Standards within a few years As described in alate-January ISA release, "An IEC PAS is often a de facto industrystandard, which may subsequently be transformed into a de jureInternational Standard."


–Maribel Rios