Artificial Intelligence Notice: ISA prohibits the entry of ISA standards and related ISA intellectual property (“ISA IP”) into any form of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, such as ChatGPT. Additionally, creating derivatives of ISA IP using AI is also prohibited without express written permission from ISA’s CEO. In the case of such use, ISA will suspend a licensee’s access to ISA IP, and further legal action will be considered. Please review ISA's Terms and Conditions for further information.

  • CAP

Certified Automation Professionals (CAPs) are responsible for the direction, design, and deployment of systems and equipment for manufacturing and control systems.

CAP question

Identify three levels within the manufacturing computer systems hierarchy.

A. operating system, machine interface, Internet
B. planning, execution, device control
C. MRP II, planning, enterprise requirements
D. inventory, movement, planning

CAP Answer

The correct answer is B, "planning, execution, device control."

The manufacturing computer systems hierarchy is defined in ISA-88 and ISA-95 by Level 0 through Level 4. Level 4 encompasses the business planning and logistics activities, such as the basic plant operations schedule, inventory, and shipping requirements.

Activities at Level 3 are concerned with manufacturing operations management. These are the activities related to the execution of recipes and production workflow and creating operations records.

Levels 1 and 2 are focused on device control, whether it is batch, continuous, or discrete control.

Answer A only lists hardware and software used at each level where computers are used. Answers B and C are all activities found at Level 3 of the hierarchy.

Reference: Trevathan, Vernon L., A Guide to the Automation Body of Knowledge, Second Edition, ISA, 2006.

Reader Feedback


We want to hear from you! Please send us your comments and questions about this topic to InTechmagazine@isa.org.



Like This Article?

Subscribe Now!

About The Author