Industrial Automation at a Crossroads: ISA Launches Taskforce to Unravel Workflow Integration Gridlock

For decades, industrial organizations have been forced to play a costly, never-ending game of “connect the dots” - struggling to make disparate workflow systems talk to each other. Now, the International Society of Automation (ISA) is sounding the alarm: enough is enough. With the creation of the ISA113 Standard Committee, the industry’s power brokers are finally taking on one of automation’s most stubborn headaches - workflow interoperability across vendor boundaries. If successful, this initiative could break the cycle of Frankenstein integrations, unleashing a new era of streamlined operations and scalable digital transformation.

Breaking Down the Bottleneck

Industrial automation is built on a complex web of workflow systems - each with its own rules, logic, and vendor-specific quirks. For operations teams, this means every time a new system is added or a process changes, IT and OT departments are forced to stitch together custom integrations. The result? Mounting technical debt, ballooning costs, and a landscape littered with fragile, one-off solutions.

The ISA113 committee’s mission is ambitious: create a vendor-neutral standard that allows distributed workflow systems to interoperate seamlessly, regardless of who made them. This includes bridging “orchestrated” workflows - like those based on ISA-88, which coordinate hierarchical processes in manufacturing plants - with “choreographed” workflows, commonly used in business process modeling (BPMN) and manufacturing execution systems (MES), which rely on distributed, event-driven coordination.

“Digital transformation is accelerating, but organizations are shackled by integration headaches,” says Steve Ferguson, ISA’s managing director of standards and technical activities. “A universal standard could not only reduce risk and cost, but also open the door for scalable, future-proof automation.”

Who’s at the Table?

ISA and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) are casting a wide net, calling for volunteers from across the automation ecosystem: end users, equipment manufacturers, software vendors, system integrators, consultants, regulators, and even academics. The goal is to ensure the resulting standard isn’t just technically sound - but also practical, reflecting the messy realities of real-world operations.

Volunteers have 30 days from the ANSI announcement to step forward. Those who join will help define abstract information models and interface standards that could become the backbone of next-generation industrial automation.

Why Now?

The timing is no accident. As industries race to modernize, the divide between operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) is shrinking. Seamless workflow integration is no longer a “nice to have” - it’s a prerequisite for agile, data-driven operations. ISA’s recent release of a new SCADA standard signals the group’s determination to address foundational challenges head-on.

Looking Ahead

If the ISA113 committee succeeds, the days of brittle, bespoke integrations could finally be numbered. But the true test will be whether the industry’s many stakeholders can unite behind a common vision - and deliver a standard robust enough to stand the test of time.

WIKICROOK

• Interoperability: Interoperability is the ability of diverse systems or organizations to work together smoothly, sharing information and coordinating actions without technical obstacles.
• Orchestrated Workflow: Orchestrated workflow is a centrally managed process that coordinates security tasks and tools, improving efficiency, consistency, and response times in cybersecurity operations.
• Choreographed Workflow: A choreographed workflow is a distributed, event-driven process where each component acts autonomously, common in business process management and microservices.
• Operational Technology (OT): Operational Technology (OT) includes computer systems that control industrial equipment and processes, often making them more vulnerable than traditional IT systems.
• MES (Manufacturing Execution System): MES is software that monitors, tracks, and controls production processes on the factory floor, improving efficiency and product quality.