A framework for integrated operations management and control

Lasdon and Baker (1986) introduced a framework for plant wide online hierarchical control as an integration of planning, scheduling and process control. A hierarchy is proposed consisting of six layers; strategic planning, tactical planning, systems operations planning, plant operations planning, scheduling, and process control. In the context of this paper, integrated operations management and control is a subset of plant wide control and is concerned with integrated operations management, control system coordination, and assessment. These three functions are arranged within a functional multilayer hierarchy which is considered to be operating on top of a distributed computer control system (DCS) regulating an industrial process plant complex. Here, the integrated operations management unit perform the system and plant operations planning functions of the Lasdon and Baker hierarchy, and the control system coordination unit performs the lower two functions of short term scheduling and process control. The strategic and tactical planning functions are, for the time being, considered to be outside the current considered framework but provide production goals as input. However, an additional function of assessment is introduced within the framework. The system is analysed