The Procedure Automation Strategy depends on having the right resources available from the plant or operating company. These resources — the automation "playbook" — provide standardized guidelines for every phase of procedure automation work, giving engineers consistent tools for designing, implementing, and maintaining automated procedures.
The automation philosophy is a technical document defining how automated processes should be implemented and maintained. It must align with the organization's broader business objectives and establishes consistent behavior across different lifecycle instances:
The philosophy is system-agnostic and equipment-independent — the same principles apply whether working with Honeywell, Emerson, Siemens, or any other control system vendor.
The philosophy document must align automation strategies with overall business objectives. Typical business drivers include:
Process Automation Objectives should be both specific to each individual process and applied consistently across the company or business unit.
| Role | Primary Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Executive Sponsor | Authorizes scope of procedure automation activities |
| Procedure Owner | Responsible for development, revision, review, validation, and approval of procedures. Has ultimate accountability. |
| Technical Reviewer | Ensures procedures reflect the true and complete technical, management control, and design basis |
| Procedure Writer | Develops procedures providing specific task instructions; responsible for formatting, wording, and structure |
| Application Developer | Provides automated procedures, automates and tests them, maintains procedure automation toolkits |
| Operating Staff | Subject matter experts on using procedures; first line of defense for procedure quality and usability |
| Independent Tester | Executes test plans independently from design team to provide unbiased verification |
The philosophy should incorporate industry, organization, and business unit standards. Typical categories to address:
The philosophy establishes specific metrics operators and engineers use during day-to-day operations to verify whether automated procedures are meeting their goals. Metrics must be defined with sufficient detail to ensure consistent calculation across different shifts and operators. Establish target values during the project implementation phase — before the system goes live — to have clear benchmarks for operational performance.
Toolkits are collections of documents, techniques, tools, and building blocks used across lifecycle instances. Reuse of toolkit contents reduces cost and time, provides consistent implementation, and reduces project and operating risk. Toolkit components include:
Toolkit updates require formal test plans, testing, and Management of Change (MOC). Each tool should be clearly labeled as tested, awaiting test, or under development, and tracked to identify which procedures use it — critical if a problem is discovered.
The Executive Sponsor shall ensure that the procedure automation philosophy is documented and periodically updated.
The Executive Sponsor shall ensure that the procedure automation philosophy document supports the business goals.
The Executive Sponsor shall ensure that the procedure automation philosophy defines a review process that follows the organization's standards and covers each part of an automated procedure's lifecycle.