CTRL Designer provides the most complete commercial implementation of the ISA‑106 procedural automation standard — covering tools, work processes, and a published implementation guide.
ISA‑106 addresses continuous process operations including start-up, shutdown, abnormal situations, hold steps, and feed/output transitions — increasing uniformity and reducing automation risk, cost, and error.
A complete set of Microsoft Excel programs covering every ISA‑106 phase — from IPA through to ACM code generation.
Being published on Amazon — a comprehensive reference covering the full CDL work process and ISA‑106 methodology.
Converting your existing company work process to align with ISA‑106 using the CDL Lean Six Sigma DMAIC methodology.
High-level introduction to the complete CDL work process and how it maps to ISA‑106 procedural automation.
Read moduleIntroduction to ISA‑106 scope, purpose, and the procedural automation framework for continuous process industries.
Read modulePhysical model hierarchy — Plant Area (PA), Unit Module (UM), Equipment Module (EM), and Control Module (CM).
Read moduleClassification of automation styles — from manual operations through to fully automatic state-based and sequence-based control.
Read moduleDeep-dive into state model design: states, transitions, modes of operation, and step logic for Unit Modules.
Read moduleSequential automation design — defining ordered step sequences, interlocks, and transition conditions for batch and procedural operations.
Read moduleThe full ISA‑106 work process mapped across FEL1, FEL2, and FEL3 project phases — from feasibility through to implementation.
Read moduleHow CTRL Designer's CDL toolset implements and extends the ISA‑106 work process for real industrial projects.
Read moduleUsing P5 URS Builder to generate structured User Requirement Specifications aligned to IEC 63690 and ISA‑106.
Read moduleUsing P6 FRS Engine to design full Functional Requirement Specifications at UM, CM, and CCM level.
Read moduleISA‑106 is the international standard for procedural automation in continuous process industries. It addresses the full lifecycle of procedural operations — those situations that fall outside steady-state control: start-up, shutdown, abnormal situations, hold steps, and transitions between operating modes.
Before ISA‑106, these procedures existed only in manual written form. The standard's goals are clear:
The CDL work process maps ISA‑106 to two industry-standard engineering frameworks: Front-End Loading (FEL) and the V-Model (GAMP) — making it compatible with how process engineering projects are actually managed.
Defines the purpose and justification of the procedural automation. Provides specific, measurable performance criteria. The URS is the owner's requirements document — technology-agnostic and system-independent.
Describes control system functionality without specifying implementation. Includes I/O definition, Step/Transition logic, and allocation of I/O to CM and CCM libraries. Specifies behaviour, not mechanism.
A complete collection of CM and CCM definitions with all associated I/O and parameters. The DDS contains sufficient information to generate production-ready DCS code — which ACM does automatically.
The CDL tools map precisely to both the V-Model lifecycle and the Front-End Loading (FEL) project framework — ensuring ISA‑106 work integrates with how process engineering projects are planned and executed.
The CDL toolset maps to each FEL phase — from performance baseline through to DCS code generation — providing a traceable, standards-aligned workflow for every project stage.
ISA‑106 and the FEL framework apply wherever continuous process operations require structured procedural automation — from conceptual development through to commissioning. CTRL Designer has implemented CDL work processes across the following sectors:
Contact us to discuss your plant assessment, work process alignment, or a full ISA‑106 SBC implementation project using CDL tools.