Apparatus and method for distributed batch control of modular automation

Abstract

The present invention is entitled "Apparatus and method for distributed batch control for modular automation". The present invention provides a method and system for distributing master recipes for a process control system, the method comprising storing a single master recipe on a server having an enterprise database and transmitting the single master recipe to each of a plurality of manufacturing units. Control recipes are seamlessly created using a common master recipe for a plurality of processing plants to provide consistent product quality with sufficient flexibility and interoperability to comply with ISA S88 batch standards.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention generally relates to control systems and apparatus and methods for batch event delivery in process control systems. Background Art

[0002] Processing facilities are usually managed using process control systems. Examples of processing facilities include chemical, food, pharmaceutical, paper and petrochemical production plants. Among other operations, process control systems usually interact with and control industrial equipment in processing facilities, such as equipment for producing chemical, pharmaceutical, food, paper or petrochemical products. Typically, these or other types of products are manufactured or processed in batches. Process control systems usually include one or more process controllers that can control one or more processing elements in the processing facility. The process controllers in batch manufacturing facilities are usually implemented as one or more master recipes, responsible for different aspects of S88 process control functions. Batch process control operations are characterized by having many complex interrelationships and constraints, which are classified according to changes in products or changes in the physical structure of the process manufacturing plant.

[0003] Batch processes are characterized by variations in products, such as a single product in the same grade, a single product in multiple grades, or multiple products in multiple grades.

[0004] Batch processes are characterized by variations in the physical structure of the process manufacturing plant, such as single flow, parallel flow, or multiple paths. Figure 1 In the single stream structure shown in , the units are organized serially in a single sequence, where batches move from one unit to another in a predetermined order. The parallel structure is similar to the multiple single stream configuration, where there may be common feedstock and storage areas, but otherwise each stream is isolated from the others. In the multi-path structure, the batch execution path does not follow any fixed path, where unit selection is based on the availability of units of the required type.

[0005] With the recent advances in modular automation systems and the goal of increasing competitiveness and flexibility at the same time, the process manufacturing industry is moving towards a new integrated and modular automation approach, rather than the traditional building-block facilities for small sites and lower complexity levels. Modular automation enables the system to be designed as a stand-alone portable skid or a stand-alone packaged unit (which can contain a complete process system), and multiple process skids can be combined to form a larger process system or an entire portable plant. Modular automation can increase flexibility in capacity (e.g., through numbering or parallelization), product portfolio (e.g., by exchanging reaction or downstream processing modules after plug-and-play), raw materials and sites (e.g., the mobility of modules) to accelerate process development and implementation using plug-and-play devices, thereby reducing investment costs (Capex) and operating expenses (Opex).

[0006] When batch automation and control is designed for stand-alone skid-based systems in modular automation, batch processing can be located on a cell / skid aligned controller, where the controller can be placed on the skid and moved around the plant. A batch process is a process that produces a finite amount of material by performing an ordered series of processing activities on a certain amount of input material in a finite amount of time using one or more pieces of equipment. A batch is a finite amount of goods or materials produced in a single manufacturing process, as opposed to a continuous manufacturing process. ISA is the International Society of Automation, and ISA 88 is the standard developed by the organization for batch control. Among the basic concepts spelled out in ISA 88 is a recipe, which provides a procedure that defines what you want to do. For example, a mixer will be filled with a certain amount of a specific substance, then mixed for a defined period of time, and then the mixer will be emptied into the next processing equipment. This process follows a process model, which breaks down a process into unit processes, all of which are listed in the recipe.

[0007] In a typical process manufacturing company, such as chemical, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and consumer packaged goods (CPH) companies, the current automation control system strategy is organized according to ISA 88 (the recipe standard) for the implementation and management of new or improved products. According to ISA 88, recipes are created at different stages of implementation, including general, site-specific, master recipes, and control recipes.

[0008] In today's fiercely competitive global competition, manufacturers are under constant pressure to find opportunities to improve efficiency, productivity and speed to market to meet consumer demands as well as regulatory requirements and product quality. Therefore, manufacturers are looking for solutions to shorten delivery and development time (equal to shortened time to market) and quickly adapt production to changing market and product requirements, while improving competitiveness and flexibility by applying modular and standardized process technologies based on the upcoming 4th Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0).

[0009] In current batch automation control systems, master recipes created using the ISA 88 process model are stored in a centralized server-based platform, and they are located in a single or multiple controller-based platforms using the ISA88 process model for batch production. Server- and controller-based solutions are able to execute batch sequences locally using master recipes stored in the server and / or controller.

[0010] However, in the current system, the master recipes stored in the dedicated centralized server-based batch engine and controller-based batch engine cannot be accessed by other server-based batch engines and controller-based batch engines to create control recipes for batch execution using a slide-based plant in a distributed controller environment of modular automation, as shown in the following figure ( Figure 4 If the master recipe is an executable control recipe loaded on a single server-based batch engine and the controller-based engine fails or needs to be updated or migrated, recipe management is required, which can be cumbersome and inefficient for the appropriate plant management personnel.

[0011] To use the same master recipe in other server-based and controller-based platforms, a replication process is used to copy the selected master recipe and store it using a different tag name that is not an identical true copy that is guaranteed to always be synchronized with the original master recipe. Any accidental or subsequent changes to the replicated master recipe mean a lot of work needs to be done because the replicated master recipe may need to be re-authenticated. Therefore, without a single true master recipe across multiple server-based and controller-based platforms, each residing on a separate dedicated unit, manufacturers cannot implement class-based recipe implementations to build a single master recipe for a group of similar units and instantiate multiple instances at run time.

[0012] Furthermore, to minimize peer-to-peer communication network bandwidth, the master recipe must be stored in the same controller to execute the batch process on the associated units, where the master recipe stored in the central server or controller cannot be used to create control recipes in distributed controllers using a rail-based factory in modular automation, as shown in the following figure ( Figure 4 ). Due to this limitation, the same master recipe needs to be replicated in the controller or distributed using a peer-to-peer mechanism, which requires additional engineering and qualification work and creates network bandwidth, causing problems in mission-critical systems.

[0013] Having a single master recipe that can be distributed on multiple controllers, each dedicated to a unit in modular automation, allows for distributed class-based batch execution with unit processes, operations and phases for a specific unit running on a dedicated controller, and the same master recipe can be used on another dedicated unit controller of the same unit class. This combines the advantages of controller-based class-based batch execution with the advantages of a distributed batch control architecture to quickly and efficiently adapt to new recipes resulting from customer needs.

[0014] In a typical prior art connected regulated batch process manufacturing environment, the amount of data and time spent collecting data requires compliance to ensure that even the same master recipe is used for replication between controllers in a distributed control system. In a typical connected batch process manufacturing environment, regulatory compliance requires ensuring that recipe data is complete, consistent, and accurate even when the same master recipe is cloned and used in multiple controllers in the same plant to produce the same product. In this case, the amount of data collected and the work spent validating each recipe to obtain regulatory compliance approval further delays the manufacture and release of the product until all documents are reviewed.

[0015] Additionally, the cost and effort required to analyze and validate data for regulatory compliance (a custom process made more complex when all relevant process operational data are considered in the analysis) can lead to inadequate review and erroneous decisions.

[0016] Therefore, transferring a working and validated master recipe from one controller to multiple controllers requires extensive and time-consuming validation work to ensure integrity. This becomes even more challenging if the controllers and units are located in different areas of the factory network, which further minimizes modularity and flexibility in terms of scalability (e.g., through numbering or parallelization). These limitations create obstacles in the process of transforming the manufacturing industry from centralized (traditional) process control systems to distributed (modular) process control systems.

[0017] In U.S. Pat. No. 8,718,807B2, a method is disclosed, including, at a first controller, in response to detecting an event associated with a batch process, initializing at least one process step of a control recipe from a master recipe associated with a batch process. Although the remote server described in the patent and other references can store the master recipe and load it to the target controller, the remote server does not allow the use of a single master recipe to be loaded to multiple unit-based controllers distributed in remote locations in the modular automation of a slide-based factory. In this prior art system, in order to create controller recipes using the same master recipe between multiple controllers dedicated to each unit, a given master recipe must be replicated based on the number of unit-based controllers, and these master recipes are stored in the remote server, and the master recipes are assigned and loaded to each controller using different tag names, so it cannot be used for class-based recipe management and execution. The present invention eliminates the duplication and verification work of the master recipe, which allows the same master recipe to be used between multiple controllers to manufacture a single product in a parallel flow and multi-path factory. The method mentioned in the present invention eliminates the need to manage multiple recipe configuration databases for each manufacturing unit\area of ​​the distributed process control system.

[0018] The methods in the prior art references force the master recipe configuration to be assigned and loaded to the associated controllers before batch production is created. However, this is not necessary in the present invention. In the present invention, the remote server automatically loads the required master recipe from its enterprise batch database to the target distributed controller execution environment or server-based batch execution environment according to the selected unit and generates the control recipe.

[0019] In the above reference, although the master recipe is not used to create batches, the master recipe loaded into the controller is still the controller. Summary of the invention

[0020] One embodiment is a method for distributing master recipes for a process control system, the method comprising storing a single master recipe on a server having an enterprise database and transmitting the single master recipe to each of a plurality of manufacturing units. After a batch operation is completed, the single master recipe can be removed from each of the plurality of manufacturing units. The master recipe is automatically downloaded to a controller of each manufacturing unit within a process manufacturing plant. The single master recipe can be a single reference to a master recipe definition. The master recipe can be loaded from the enterprise database into a target distributed controller execution environment. The master recipe is loaded from the enterprise database into a server-based batch execution environment.

[0021] Master recipes can be reused in multiple process plants.

[0022] Another embodiment of the present invention is a control system for production operations, the system including a database containing qualified master recipes, wherein the master recipe is a single reference for batch production in a distributed process control system. The master recipe is a single reference for batch production of controllers configured in the same or different manufacturing areas. The master recipe can be stored in an enterprise batch database. The database communicates with at least one controller. The modular batch control system can be configured to automatically load the master recipe from the enterprise batch database into the controller of at least one manufacturing unit. The controller can be configured to generate a control recipe for batch production of at least one manufacturing unit. The master recipe can be used to create a control recipe across multiple process plants. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 A single stream structure for batch production is shown.

[0024] Figure 2 A parallel stream production structure for batch production is shown.

[0025] Figure 3 A multi-path flow production structure for batch production is shown.

[0026] Figure 4A manufacturing site is shown having two manufacturing areas.

[0027] Figure 5 A batch manufacturing operation is shown where a master recipe is maintained in an enterprise batch database. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] In the present invention, the associated master recipe is automatically deleted from the controller when batch production is completed, which can release controller resources.

[0029] In the above-mentioned references, the cloned master recipes need to be manually transferred between dedicated remote servers associated with the manufacturing sites, which requires additional verification efforts to ensure data integrity.

[0030] The present invention eliminates the need to replicate master recipes using an enterprise batch database and automates the loading process eliminating human error by automatically downloading the master recipes to the controller.

[0031] The present invention provides the opportunity to distribute master recipes throughout a process manufacturing plant, eliminating duplication and manual transfer of master recipes to each individual controller in a distributed (or modular) process control system and reducing the effort and cost of meeting regulatory compliance requirements.

[0032] The present invention provides a number of technical advantages. An enterprise recipe operations database supports faster new product introductions, reduces engineering effort with constant recipe changes and distributed production facilities. An enterprise recipe operations database can be used as a single reference for master recipe definitions to support better periodic compliance. Integration of batch applications is easier in modular automation, where a single sled can contain a complete process system, or multiple process sleds can be combined to create a large distributed control system environment using portable factories. Batch control systems are more easily integrated into larger manufacturing networks, which allows the same master recipe information to be passed between manufacturing facilities in a distributed control system environment to consistently manufacture products. By removing the limitation of locating master recipes and units in the same controller, master recipes can be more easily distributed between multiple controllers configured at multiple factory sites. Another key benefit is the ability to quickly and efficiently adapt and adjust recipes that arise from changes in customer and factory requirements. These recipes can be distributed to single and multiple server-based batch engines and controller-based batch engines, reducing the scope of loss and making migration easier. When a controller fails, the scope of loss is limited to a single unit and does not affect batch production in other units. It also allows for easier migration, as there are often single units that are not in use when they can be migrated independently and not affect mass production of other units.

[0033] The peer-to-peer communication network bandwidth on the controller is reduced. In addition, rework and duplication of efforts for regulatory compliance are reduced by using standardized processes across multiple process manufacturing plants.

[0034] Additionally, there are business and technical advantages over prior art systems. Utilizing the present invention, the time to develop and validate master recipes is reduced by eliminating the need to copy and transfer master recipe applications used to manufacture individual products in parallel flow and multi-path factories. Time to market is reduced by reducing the time to manually convert consistent master recipes in manufacturing facilities. The present invention enables modular flexibility to create batches in parallel and multi-path manufacturing cells to scale production based on changing market and product demands. Speed ​​and efficiency of production is increased by using a distributed control system to use the same recipe structure in all cells.

[0035] The present invention enables one to use authoring tools in an enterprise batch database to store qualified master recipes configured according to the desired ISA88 program model. The master recipes stored in the enterprise batch database are not assigned and loaded to any specific controller and are common to all controllers configured in the same or different manufacturing units\areas of a distributed process control system. The method does not force the master recipe configuration to be loaded into the batch execution environment before batch production is created. This method enables qualified common master recipes to be stored throughout the process manufacturing plant. In addition, this eliminates the need to manage multiple recipe configuration databases for each manufacturing unit\area of ​​the distributed process control system. Unit classes associated with the distributed control system created according to the ISA88 physical model are published to the enterprise batch database.

[0036] After the batch is created on the selected unit, the proposed solution automatically loads all required master recipes from the enterprise batch database into the target distributed controller execution environment or the server-based batch execution environment of the selected unit to generate the control recipes. When the batch is completed, the control recipes and the related master recipes are deleted from the controller.

[0037] The present invention enables a generic approach to seamlessly reuse a common master recipe across multiple process plants to provide consistent product quality with sufficient flexibility and interoperability in accordance with the ISA S88 batch standard. An enterprise batch server hosting an enterprise batch database can operate at the enterprise or MES layer in accordance with the ISA S95 standard. Figure 5 As shown, this enterprise hierarchical configuration supports seamless connectivity across distributed manufacturing areas to upload and download common master recipe configurations and eliminates the overhead of managing multiple copies of the same master recipe.

[0038] In some embodiments, various functions are implemented or supported by a computer program, which is formed by a computer-readable program code and is contained in a computer-readable medium. The phrase "computer-readable program code" includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code, and executable code. The phrase "computer-readable medium" includes any type of medium that can be accessed by a computer, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard drive, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), or any other type of memory.

[0039] It may be advantageous to set forth the definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document. The term "coupling" and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, whether or not these elements are in physical contact with each other. The terms "application" and "program" refer to one or more computer programs, software components, instruction sets, processes, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data or a part thereof that are suitable for being implemented with a suitable computer code (including source code, object code or executable code). The terms "transmission", "reception", "communication" and their derivatives cover both direct communication and indirect communication. The terms "include" and "comprise" and their derivatives mean including but not limited to this. The term "or" is inclusive, meaning and / or. The phrases "associated with..." and "associated with..." and their derivatives may mean including, included in, interconnected with, included in, connected to, or connected with, coupled to, or coupled with, communicable with, collaborative with, interlaced, juxtaposed, close to, coupled to, or combined with, have, have the properties of, etc. The term "process controller" means any device, system, or part thereof that controls at least one operation. A process controller is capable of controlling one or more process elements in a facility. Process controllers in a batch manufacturing environment are typically implemented as one or more master recipes responsible for different aspects of the S88 process control functionality.

[0040] A controller may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or some combination of at least two of them. Whether locally or remotely deployed, the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed.

[0041] Figure 1 An example of a single flow structure is shown, in which a master recipe 2 is retained in a memory, which needs to be transferred to three units 4, 6 and 8 shown in series so that batch production 10 can proceed. The batch-produced products can be stored or shipped at this point.

[0042] Figure 2A parallel flow production is shown with three parallel flows 32, 34 and 36, each with three units 12, 14 and 16; 18, 20 and 22; and 24, 26 and 28, to which the master recipe 2 is sent in parallel. As in single flow production, this is a batch production of products, where the products produced can be transported or stored 30 for future use or transportation.

[0043] Figure 3 A multi-path production structure with the same recipe 2 is shown for which instructions are sent to units 46, 48 and 50; 52, 54 and 56; and 58, 60 and 62 in each of the three paths 40, 42 and 44 to produce product 70. Figure 2 The difference with parallel flow production is that the product from a particular cell is sent to a cell in a different path (e.g. via paths 64, 66 and 68) rather than continuing sequentially to the next cell in the current path, which allows for greater flexibility. This allows for better utilization of all cells and greater production potential than with parallel path processes.

[0044] Figure 4 A manufacturing site 100 is shown with two manufacturing areas 105 and 110. On the manufacturing area 105 is shown a unit 115, where a server 115 and a master recipe 135 are stored in a unit operation controller for batch production. On the manufacturing area 110, a unit 120 with a server 130 is shown as a parallel structure to the manufacturing area 105, which may have common raw materials and storage areas, but in addition, as shown Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown in the figure below, each flow is isolated from other flows, enabling batches to be created in parallel and multi-path manufacturing cells to scale production based on changes in market and product demand in a distributed controller environment in modular automation, as shown in the figure below ( Figure 4 ).

[0045] Due to the limitations mentioned in the prior art, the master recipe 135 stored in the unit operation controller of the manufacturing area 105 is inaccessible and cannot be used to create a control recipe for batch production in the manufacturing area 110 using the unit 120.

[0046] In order to use the same master recipe 135 to produce batches in parallel in manufacturing areas 105 and 110 using units 115 and 120 at the same time to scale up production, the selected master recipe 135 needs to be copied using the copy process and stored with a different tag name and assigned to the controller dedicated to unit 115 in manufacturing area 105. Although master recipe 135 is qualified and approved for producing batches, it cannot be used to produce batches using the following figure ( Figure 4) is a distributed modular automation of all unit operation controllers of a slide-based factory as shown in FIG. Since the master recipe used in the manufacturing area 110 is not a true copy of the original approved master recipe 135, the master recipe xxx needs to be identified and approved again before it can be used for batch production. Therefore, without a single true master recipe on multiple server-based platforms and controller-based platforms, each residing on a separate dedicated unit, the manufacturer cannot perform a class-based recipe implementation to build a single master recipe for a group of similar units and instantiate multiple instances at runtime.

[0047] Figure 5 The present disclosure shows a server 100 in which a qualified master recipe 130 is stored in an enterprise batch database 110 after being configured using an enterprise authoring tool 105 within a modular batch control system 120. The master recipe 130 stored in the enterprise batch database 110 is used as a single reference for batch production to facilitate automatic conversion to controllers configured in the same or different manufacturing areas of a distributed (modular) process control system. The enterprise authoring tool 105 is used to create master recipes and unit classes to support automatic downloading of master recipes to unit associated controllers during batch execution.

[0048] The modular batch control system 120 operates within the existing distributed control system network and security infrastructure that is required to seamlessly and automatically convert a single master recipe to distributed controllers while reducing recipe duplication. The computing infrastructure for automated recipe conversion follows current distributed control system industry standard practices.

[0049] In this approach, the master recipe 130 that resides in the enterprise batch database 110 does not need to be stored in each controller prior to batch execution. In this figure, the master recipe 130 is retained in the enterprise batch database and is only transferred to the individual batch execution controllers when needed, as opposed to prior art systems where a copy needs to be sent to each batch execution controller.

[0050] When creating batches 125 and 130 using the master recipe 130 using units 165 and units 170 in the same or different manufacturing areas in the distributed modular automation control system, the modular batch control system 120 automatically loads the master recipe instance of the master recipe 130 from the enterprise batch database into the controllers of units 165 and units 170. At batch execution, the controller generates a control recipe for batch production using units 165 and units 170. In addition, when batch production is completed, the control recipe and master recipe instance of the master recipe 130 are deleted from the controller. Finally, control recipes are seamlessly created using a common master recipe for multiple process plants to provide consistent product quality with sufficient flexibility and interoperability to comply with the ISA S88 batch standard.

[0051] Specific implementation plan

[0052] While the following is described in conjunction with specific embodiments, it should be understood that this description is intended to illustrate and not to limit the scope of the foregoing description and the appended claims.

[0053] A first embodiment of the present invention is a method for distributing master recipes for a process control system, the method comprising storing a single master recipe on a server having an enterprise database and transmitting the single master recipe to each of a plurality of manufacturing units. An embodiment of the present invention is from the first embodiment in this paragraph to one, any or all previous embodiments in this paragraph, wherein after the batch operation is completed, the single master recipe is removed from each of the plurality of manufacturing units. An embodiment of the present invention is from the first embodiment in this paragraph to one, any or all previous embodiments in this paragraph, wherein the master recipe is automatically downloaded to the controller of each manufacturing unit in the process manufacturing plant. An embodiment of the present invention is from the first embodiment in this paragraph to one, any or all previous embodiments in this paragraph, wherein the single master recipe is a single reference to the master recipe definition. An embodiment of the present invention is from the first embodiment in this paragraph to one, any or all previous embodiments in this paragraph, wherein the master recipe is loaded from the enterprise database into the target distributed controller execution environment. An embodiment of the present invention is from the first embodiment in this paragraph to one, any or all previous embodiments in this paragraph, wherein the master recipe is loaded from the enterprise database into the server-based batch execution environment. An embodiment of the invention is from the first embodiment in this paragraph to one, any or all previous embodiments in this paragraph wherein the master recipe is reused in multiple process plants.

[0054] A second embodiment of the present invention is a control system for production operations, the system comprising a database containing qualified master recipes, wherein the master recipe is a single reference for batch production in a distributed process control system. One embodiment of the present invention is from the first embodiment in this paragraph to one, any or all previous embodiments in this paragraph, wherein the master recipe is a single reference for batch production of controllers configured in the same or different manufacturing areas. One embodiment of the present invention is from the first embodiment in this paragraph to one, any or all previous embodiments in this paragraph, wherein the master recipe is stored in an enterprise batch database. One embodiment of the present invention is from the first embodiment in this paragraph to one, any or all previous embodiments in this paragraph, wherein the database communicates with at least one controller. One embodiment of the present invention is from the first embodiment in this paragraph to one, any or all previous embodiments in this paragraph, wherein the modular batch control system is configured to automatically load the master recipe from the enterprise batch database into the controller of at least one manufacturing unit. One embodiment of the present invention is from the first embodiment in this paragraph to one, any or all previous embodiments in this paragraph, wherein the controller is configured to generate a control recipe for batch production for at least one manufacturing unit. One embodiment of the present invention is from the first embodiment in this paragraph to one, any or all previous embodiments in this paragraph, wherein the control recipe is created using a master recipe across multiple process plants.

[0055] Although there is no further detailed description, it is believed that those skilled in the art can utilize the present invention to the greatest extent by using the foregoing description and can easily determine the essential characteristics of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention to make various changes and modifications of the present invention and adapt it to various usages and conditions. Therefore, the aforementioned preferred specific embodiments should be understood as merely illustrative and not to limit the rest of the present disclosure in any way, and are intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope of the appended claims.

[0056] In the foregoing, all temperatures are set forth in degrees Celsius and all parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise indicated.

[0057] Although the present disclosure has described certain embodiments and generally associated methods, changes and permutations of these embodiments and methods will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the above description of the exemplary embodiments does not limit or restrict the present disclosure. Other changes, substitutions and variations are also possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined in the following claims.

Claims

1. A method for distributing a master recipe for a process control system, the method comprising: Store a single master recipe on a server with an enterprise database, transmitting the single master recipe to each of a plurality of manufacturing cells, wherein, while the single master recipe is retained in the enterprise database, the single master recipe is loaded from the enterprise database into a plurality of controllers associated with the process control system, wherein each controller is dedicated to a manufacturing cell in modular automation to enable distributed class-based batch execution in the process control system, the manufacturing cell comprising unit processes, operations, and phases for a particular cell running on a dedicated controller; and The master recipe is transferred to another dedicated unit controller of the same unit class. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the single master recipe is removed from each of the plurality of manufacturing cells after the batch operation is completed.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the single master recipe is automatically downloaded to the controller of each manufacturing unit within a process manufacturing plant. The method of claim 1 , wherein the single master recipe is a single reference to a master recipe definition.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the single master recipe is loaded from the enterprise database into a server-based batch execution environment.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the single master recipe is reused in multiple process plants.

7. A control system for production operations, the control system comprising: An enterprise database containing master recipes, which are single references for batch production in a distributed process control system, wherein, while the master recipe is retained in the enterprise database, the master recipe is loaded from the enterprise database into a plurality of controllers associated with the distributed process control system, wherein each controller is dedicated to a manufacturing cell in modular automation to enable distributed class-based batch execution in the process control system, the manufacturing cell comprising unit processes, operations, and phases for a particular cell running on a dedicated controller; and Wherein, the control system is further configured to transmit the master recipe to another dedicated unit controller of the same unit type.

8. The control system of claim 7, wherein the master recipe is a single reference for batch production of controllers configured in the same or different manufacturing areas.

9. The control system of claim 7, wherein the master recipe is stored in an enterprise batch database.

10. The control system of claim 7, wherein the database is in communication with at least one controller.

11. The control system of claim 9, wherein the modular batch control system is configured to automatically load the master recipe from the enterprise batch database into a controller of at least one manufacturing unit.

12. The control system of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to generate a control recipe for batch production for at least one manufacturing unit.

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