Chapter 13
Procedure Automation Lifecycle - Retirement
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Retirement Triggers
Automated procedures are retired when one of three triggers occurs:
- Trigger 1 — Plant Retirement: Facility closure, end of plant life, or permanent shutdown. All automated procedures for that plant are retired.
- Trigger 2 — Process Changes: Different raw materials, new product line, modified process, or equipment changes that render existing procedures obsolete or inapplicable.
- Trigger 3 — Control System Upgrade/Replacement: When the BPCS is upgraded or replaced, procedures may need to be migrated to the new platform (upgrade path) or retired and replaced with new procedures designed for the new system's capabilities (replace path). Decision factors: migration cost vs. replacement cost, compatibility, and opportunity for improvement.
The Decision Process — Management of Change
The decision to retire an automated procedure must be defined through appropriate Management of Change (MOC) work processes. Retirement is a significant change that affects operations, may impact safety, and requires formal documentation. MOC ensures proper evaluation, risk assessment, stakeholder review, formal approval, and documented decision.
Critical
You cannot just "turn off" or delete a procedure — a formal MOC process is mandatory. Without MOC: uncontrolled changes, safety risks, no documentation, and lost knowledge.
Maintaining Retired Procedures
A copy of each retired procedure should be maintained in an archive — retired does not mean deleted. Reasons to preserve retired procedures:
- Historical reference: Understanding how the plant operated, why designs were made certain ways, and what worked or did not work
- Knowledge preservation: Capturing engineering expertise, operational experience, design decisions, and lessons learned
- Future reuse: Starting point for similar new units, migration to new platforms, or troubleshooting comparison
Example
Plant A retires a distillation startup procedure when switching to continuous operation. Five years later, Plant B building a new batch distillation unit uses Plant A's retired procedure as a starting point — saving months of development.
Requirements
Requirement 13-1 (Critical)
The Procedure Owner shall ensure that appropriate Management of Change work processes are defined and used to retire an automated procedure. The Procedure Owner is accountable for ensuring retirement is never informal.