Industrial Automation is what makes the world run. Industrial Automation Standards are what make industrial automation run. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published many standards detailing industrial automation systems and integration, testing, management, and interfaces. Touting amongst its advantages phenomenal efficiency, decreased prices, and significantly improved reliability with respect to both output quantity and quality, industrial automation depends on proper design and implementation in order to continue delivering on its track record.
Industrial Automation Standards serve to provide guidelines from which interoperable systems can be designed and implemented. Interoperability extends to manufacturing software capability profiling; the service interface, such as for testing applications; data management and modeling; and, most tangibly, the physical parts that are used by and comprise the machines involved in the actual manufacturing. As ISO standards are organized by ICS (International Classification for Standards), ISO ICS 25, Manufacturing Engineering, serves as a collection of standards for both industrial automation and the machine tools that are associated with it.
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has published a series of standards addressing industrial automation as well, focusing more on the network communications aspect of the system. Delving into industrial communication network profiles and fieldbus specifications, IEC industrial automation standards serve a powerful role in standardizing their rather complicated field.
Together, these standards guide the industry and promote efficiency, ease of management, and reliability, for those doing everything from building these systems, to using, testing, and maintaining these systems. And, as a result, the benefit is carried over to those who use the products that come about as the result of the improvement to these systems.
Recently, the Electronic Commerce Code Management Association (ECCMA) administrated U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to ISO TC 184, Automation systems and integration, is seeking industry, government, and other interested experts to work on a variety of automation-related standards.
