Publicly Available Specification 55 is presently with the IEC in the ISO 5500n series of standards. The resulting standards will be similar to the ISO 9000 or 14000 series that have been widely adopted. PAS 55 addresses Asset Management. Unfortunately, for the automation industry the program is targeted more towards the financial sector and is not expected to go “as low” as the ERP and control system diagnostics.

The majority of new electronic field devices being installed today all have some form diagnostics capability and most of those also have some way of communicating their overall general health to another system that can make use of this information to improve overall plant reliability. This reporting system is typically called an asset management system, however part of the reason for the slower than might be expected adoption of asset management is a definition of “what it is” and “how to install/use/integrate” the system with the larger maintenance practices of a facility.

Hello All. Sorry for long gap. Today I want to discuss ISO 10303, the standard for the exchange of product (STEP) model data, and how ISO and the OPEN Operations and Maintenance (Open O&M) are not working together, but must do so.

Here is the situation that I see, knowing that I only have a spectator's view. ISO 10303 has been used in the product design organizations for discrete manufacturing for 15 years (A&D, automotive, industrial equipement, plant building design, some electronics). The st...