Process Intelligence is a "bridge" between the machines’ management and the business management as shown in the figure below. PI can:

• Access process data from DCS, SCADA, PLC’s or business databases

• Discover valuable process knowledge that resides in historical process

• Build real-time adaptive process schedules

• Implement real-time process simulation

• Implement supervisory control and optimize complex production and business

• Access operation and business data and information plant-wide

• Make targeted business forecasts and market decisions

Process Intelligence provides tools to help process engineers and managers to make better process decisions. A number of these tools and technologies are described below.

OLE for Process Control (OPC) allows access to process information in DCS, SCADA and PLC’s in a standardized way, thus enabling open and more efficient communication in a heterogeneous computing environment.

Data Mining enables understanding of complex processes and issues where the engineering and scientific principles are not well understood. You can learn how and why process experts and operators make decisions under diverse circumstances.

Advanced algorithmic methods like Genetic Algorithms build real-time, adaptive scheduling systems which incorporate process economics into production schedules. They allow elimination of inefficiencies in utilizing production capacity by integrating inventory, current orders and production plans. These methods facilitate easy rescheduling, review of alternative schedules and quick assigning of production orders.

Virtual On-line Analyzers using technologies like neural networks to model and predict process measurements that are difficult or costly to perform. They act as "virtual" instrumentation or sensors and can be easily updated as equipment ages, retrofits are done, or process operating characteristics change.

Supervisory DecisionExperts perform multiple tasks in supervisory control, optimization and automation. They help evaluate and implement optimization strategies based on process knowledge discovered from process data. Since there is no need to develop process models, DecisionExperts are less costly and more profitable than other methods.

Intranet Web technologies make process information available plant-wide in a format that addresses employees’ needs.

Business Intelligence using technologies like OLAP allows management to gain insight into their business by "drilling-down" business data for trend spotting or using "what-if" analysis for scenario forecasting. BI technologies provide management with up-to-date information on vital business aspects of their operations.