Overview - What ISO 15746-3:2020 covers
ISO 15746-3:2020, part of the ISO 15746 series, defines the principles and a structured process for verification and validation (V&V) of Advanced Process Control and Optimization (APC-O) systems used in manufacturing. The standard maps V&V activities to the APC-O lifecycle - requirements analysis, design, development, execution, and support - and specifies a set of indicators and checkpoints to assess whether APC-O solutions meet stakeholder needs and lifecycle phase outputs. It also provides an interoperability framework to help integrate APC-O with Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) and other automation systems without mandating a single implementation approach.
Key technical topics and requirements
- V&V principle and workflow: Defines objectives for V&V, analysis of applicability, checklist creation, indicator calculation, evaluation, and assessment of results (including pass/fail outcomes and required corrective actions).
- Lifecycle phases covered: Requirements analysis, design, development, execution, and support. Checkpoints are defined for each phase to guide verification activities.
- Indicators and checkpoints:
- Two indicator types: quantitative indicators (calculated using formulae) and judgement indicators (evaluated by method).
- Quantitative indicator structure includes: Name, ID, Description, Scope, Formula, Unit, Range, Trend, Audience (example: Mean Squared Error MSE = Mean[(SV − PV)^2]).
- Judgement indicator structure includes: Name, ID, Description, Scope, Evaluation method, Evaluation result, Audience.
- General V&V process steps: Define objectives → analyze applicability → define indicators/checkpoints → review checklist → calculate/evaluate → assess report and decide pass/fail or require modification.
- Checklist examples: Scope of application, module selection, user goals, process description, planned ROI and implementation efficiency are explicitly called out for the requirements-analysis phase.
Practical applications and who uses this standard
ISO 15746-3 is aimed at organizations involved in APC-O implementation and integration:
- Process engineers, control system integrators, and automation vendors validating APC-O modules and system behavior.
- Project managers and operations teams assessing fit against business goals (e.g., ROI, coverage).
- Independent testing organizations and consultants performing formal V&V and producing evaluation reports.
- Manufacturing companies and academics seeking an interoperability framework to integrate APC-O with MOM and wider automation ecosystems.
Practical uses include building V&V checklists, defining measurable APC-O KPIs, guiding acceptance tests, and improving interoperability across heterogeneous automation solutions.
Related standards
- ISO 15746 series (other parts cover integration aspects)
- ISO 22400-2 (indicator structure referenced for expressing indicators)
- ISO/IEC Directives (editorial and development context)