Solution architecture and systems integration

Both references belong to the same batch-control standards family. ISA-88 names the series developed through ISA and IEC 61512 its international publication. In a specification, we identify the applicable part, edition and year because catalogue editions may differ.

It is the design of the layer that makes your systems talk to each other: synchronization between ERP, MES and SCADA so that production orders flow down correctly and production feedback, such as material traceability, flows back up without manual re-entry. We define the data flows, the protocols (OPC UA, MQTT, REST APIs) and the technical choices aligned with your corporate IT policy and OT network security constraints.

Architecture solutions designs the technical integration layer: how your ERP, MES, SCADA systems and data platforms connect and exchange data. Industrial Data and AI then applies analytics, machine learning or chatbots on the data flowing through that architecture, for predictive maintenance for example. Custom tools builds the actual tool used day to day, such as a portal or an AI agent, when a need does not justify an ERP/MES program or heavy development. The three services often combine on the same program, but architecture solutions lays the foundation the other two build on.

ISA-95 is the standard that structures vertical integration between production (SCADA, levels 0 to 2), MES (level 3) and ERP (level 4). We use it as a reference framework to specify data exchanges between these layers at level 3 and 4. On a regulated site, a clean ISA-95 integration simplifies audits and limits costly custom development that later needs validating.

All three, depending on your context. We design hybrid cloud and on-premise data platforms on Azure or AWS, as on a multi-year program for a pharmaceutical player where the hybrid Azure cloud architecture combines microservices, real-time ingestion via MQTT and OPC UA, and Power BI reporting. The choice depends on your confidentiality constraints, your corporate IT policy and what needs to stay close to production.

OT network security is part of the design, not a step bolted on afterward: segmentation, hardening and monitoring per IEC 62443, OT connectivity via secure OPC UA. We factor in OT network security constraints from the choice of protocols and data flows between ERP, MES and SCADA onward, in line with the site's corporate IT policy.

Yes, that is a large part of our practice. We designed and deployed a platform unifying production, quality and supply chain for a major pharmaceutical player in the Basel area, with GxP-compatible data governance, traceability and audit trail. The architecture accounts for the validation and traceability constraints of a regulated site from the design stage, not as a correction afterward.