A computer-implemented method (100) for optimizing a given topology (2) of a modular
plant (1) that is to execute a given industrial process according to a given engineered
recipe (3), the method (100) comprising: • obtaining (110), for at least one
process module (21-23) in the given topology (2), the amount of at least one resource and / or capability (21a-23a) of the
process module (21-23) that is utilized when the process is executed according to the
recipe (3), and dividing this amount by the maximum amount of the respective resource and / or capability (21a-23a) that this
process module (21-23) is able to provide, thereby obtaining a theoretical utilization (21b-23b) of the resource and / or capability (21a-23a) as the theoretical utilization of the process module (21-23); • searching (120), in a
pool (6) of available process modules (24-27), for candidate process modules (24-27) that are able to take the place of the at least one process module (21-23) in the execution of the given
recipe (3) and fit into the given topology (2); • obtaining (130), for each candidate process module (24-27), the theoretical utilization (24b-27b) of the corresponding resource and / or capability (24a- 27a) of this candidate process module (24-27) that would ensue if the at least one process module (21-23) were to be replaced by this candidate process module (24-27), and assigning this theoretical utilization (24b-27b) to this candidate process module (24-27); and • generating (140) an optimized topology (2*) of the
plant (1) from the given topology (2) by replacing the at least one process module (21-23) with a candidate process module (24-27) that has a same or a higher theoretical utilization (24b-27b) than the at least one process module (21-23).