Glossary

128 plain-language definitions for the field's technical terms. Machine-readable as JSON.

800xA (ABB): ABB's flagship distributed control system.
AGV: Vehicle that follows fixed paths via floor tape, wire, or reflectors.
Alarm management: Lifecycle discipline for useful, actionable process alarms.
AMR: Mobile robot that plans its own paths using onboard sensing.
Andon system: Visual signal for production status and immediate help.
Asset performance management (APM): Reliability and lifecycle strategy for industrial assets.
AutomationML: Vendor-neutral plant engineering data exchange format.
B2MML: ISA-95 XML schemas for ERP-to-MES information exchange.
Batch process: Production in discrete recipe-driven quantities.
Birth certificate (Sparkplug): Sparkplug self-description published on connect; death certificate on disconnect.
Brownfield: Existing plant or system that new tech must integrate with.
CAN bus: Robust multi-master serial bus used inside machines and devices.
CANopen: CAN-based device and motion-control protocol.
Changeover: Switching a line or machine from one product to another.
CIP: Object-based application layer behind EtherNet/IP and DeviceNet.
CIP Safety: Safety protocol extension for CIP networks.
CMMS: Software for maintenance work orders, schedules, and asset history.
CNC: Programmed control of machine tools.
Cobot: Robot designed for fenceless work near people, with safety-rated limits.
Companion specification: Domain-specific OPC UA object model (machinery, robotics, instruments…).
Condition monitoring: Tracking equipment health from physical condition signals.
Continuous process: Uninterrupted production (refining, chemical, power).
Control loop: Feedback path from measurement to corrective action.
Cycle time: Elapsed time to complete one repeatable production cycle.
Data diode: Hardware-enforced one-way path for high-assurance segmentation.
DCS: Integrated control platform for process industries.
DDS: Pub/sub middleware standard; the transport under ROS 2.
Deep packet inspection (DPI): Protocol-aware inspection of industrial network traffic.
Determinism: Bounded, guaranteed timing — the point of real-time networks.
Digital twin: Live virtual model of an asset or process, fed by real data.
Discrete manufacturing: Manufacturing distinct items on lines and cells.
Distributed clocks: EtherCAT's sub-microsecond node synchronization mechanism.
DNP3: Utility SCADA protocol for telemetry, events, and control.
Edge gateway: Protocol-translating, buffering bridge between devices and platforms.
Electronic batch record (EBR): Digital, auditable record of an executed batch.
ERP: Business system for orders, inventory, and finance.
EtherCAT: High-speed fieldbus with on-the-fly processing for motion.
EtherNet/IP: CIP over standard Ethernet; Rockwell/ODVA ecosystem.
Event frame: Time-bounded historian record that gives an event operational context.
Fail-safe: Failure behavior that brings a process to its defined safe state.
Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA): Structured analysis of failure modes, effects, and risk controls.
Fieldbus: Digital network for distributed industrial field devices.
First-pass yield (FPY): Share of units accepted without rework or retest.
Freelance (ABB): ABB's compact DCS for small process applications.
Functional safety: Failure-tolerant design quantified by SIL ratings.
Golden batch: Known-good reference batch used to compare execution and quality.
HAZOP: Guideword-based study of process hazards and deviations.
Historian: Long-term high-resolution store for process time-series data.
HMI: Operator interface for monitoring and controlling equipment.
IEC 61131-3: Standard for the five PLC programming languages.
IEC 61511: Process-sector lifecycle standard for safety instrumented systems.
IEC 62061: Machinery functional-safety standard for control systems.
IEC 62443: Core OT cybersecurity standard series.
IIoT: Networked devices and platforms for industrial operations.
Industrial DMZ: Buffer segment between IT and OT networks.
Industrial firewall: Firewall designed for segmented industrial network traffic.
Industrial wireless: Wireless networking designed for plant devices and operations.
Information model: OPC UA's structured, browsable description of assets.
ISA-101: Lifecycle and design guidance for industrial HMIs.
ISA-18.2: Standard lifecycle for rational, actionable process alarms.
ISA-88: Standard for batch control models and recipes.
ISA-95: Standard vocabulary for ERP/MES integration.
ISO 10218: Safety requirements for industrial robots and robot systems.
ISO 13849: Machinery safety-control methodology based on Performance Level.
IT/OT convergence: Merging of IT and OT systems and organizations.
Jitter: Cycle-to-cycle latency variation; the enemy of control loops.
Kepware: Multi-protocol connectivity server, now part of Velotic.
Lockout/tagout (LOTO): Energy-isolation procedure for safe equipment servicing.
Lot traceability: Tracing a material lot through inputs, production, and destinations.
Machine vision: Camera-based inspection, measurement, identification, or guidance.
Management of change (MOC): Controlled review and approval process for operational changes.
Mean time between failures (MTBF): Average operating time between failures of a repairable asset.
Mean time to repair (MTTR): Average time required to restore equipment after failure.
MES: Operations management: orders, genealogy, quality, OEE.
MES integration: The ERP/MES interface discipline.
Modbus: Simple register protocol; RTU on serial, TCP on Ethernet.
Motion control: Coordinated servo control for positioning and robotics.
MQTT: Lightweight pub/sub transport for telemetry and events.
MTConnect: Open read-only standard for CNC machine data.
Nonconformance: Documented failure to meet a specified requirement.
ODVA: Standards body for CIP and EtherNet/IP.
OEE: Availability × performance × quality.
OPC UA: Industrial interoperability framework: modeling, PubSub, security.
OPC UA FX: OPC UA field-level communication and controller interoperability.
OPC UA PubSub: OPC UA's scalable publish/subscribe communication model.
OPCTurkey: Kepware's official distributor and OPC services in Türkiye.
OT: Hardware/software that monitors and controls physical processes.
Packet capture: Recorded network traffic used for OT troubleshooting and investigation.
Permit to work: Formal authorization and controls for hazardous work.
PID loop: The standard feedback control algorithm.
PLC: Rugged deterministic controller running scan-cycle logic.
PLCopen: Standard PLC libraries for motion and safety.
Predictive maintenance: Maintenance scheduled from evidence of changing failure risk.
Production genealogy: Detailed history linking a product to its materials and process execution.
PROFIBUS: Established PI fieldbus family for factory and process devices.
PROFINET: Real-time industrial Ethernet from PI (RT and IRT).
Purdue model: IT/OT layering model underlying segmentation design.
QoS (MQTT): MQTT delivery guarantees: 0, 1, or 2.
Recipe management: Controlled versioning and execution of production instructions.
Redundancy: Duplicate or alternate capacity that tolerates a single failure.
Remote I/O: Distributed I/O connected to a controller over an industrial network.
Robotics: Industrial, collaborative, and mobile robots.
Root-cause analysis (RCA): Evidence-based investigation of why a problem recurred.
ROS: Open framework for robot software, now DDS-based.
RTU: Rugged controller for distributed infrastructure assets.
Safety instrumented function (SIF): One defined protective action with a target safety integrity.
Safety instrumented system (SIS): Independent protective system that detects hazards and trips safely.
Safety relay: Safety-rated relay module for small protective circuits.
SCADA: Live supervision, alarming, and operator control.
Security information and event management (SIEM): Centralized security-log correlation and alerting platform.
Sequence of events (SOE): High-resolution timestamped record of discrete state changes.
SIL: Quantified reliability target for safety functions.
Sparkplug B: MQTT namespace + payload + state spec for OT.
Statistical process control (SPC): Statistical monitoring of process variation and stability.
Store and forward: Buffering through outages, replaying on recovery.
Structured Text (ST): Text-based IEC 61131-3 language for PLC logic and algorithms.
Takt time: Required production rhythm set by available time and demand.
Topic namespace: Governed MQTT topic hierarchy.
Total productive maintenance (TPM): Operator-involved maintenance system focused on eliminating losses.
Traceability: Linking products to their materials, process history, and disposition.
TSN: Deterministic extensions to standard Ethernet.
Unified namespace: One broker hierarchy as the enterprise integration point.
Velotic: Industrial software company: Proficy + Kepware + ThingWorx.
VFD: Drive controlling AC motor speed via output frequency.
Vibration monitoring: Vibration-based health monitoring for rotating equipment.
Work in process (WIP): Material currently moving through production but not yet finished.
Zero trust for OT: Identity- and policy-based access model for segmented OT environments.
Zones and conduits: Segment assets; control every path between segments.