Shop

Artificial Intelligence Notice: ISA prohibits the entry of any ISA intellectual property (“ISA IP”), including standards, publications, training or other materials 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 policies for Use of AI Tools, Intellectual Property and Terms and Conditions for further information.

Important Notice: Print books are temporarily unavailable. As of 12 August 2025, print books are no longer available for purchase on isa.org, but beginning 1 January 2026, they will be available for purchase through our publishing partner, Wiley. Kindle and ePub formats are still available via the links on each book's product page on isa.org. Learn More.

Cancel
SM

ISA Certified Automation Professional (CAP) program

  • CAP

Summary

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