A critical step in a successful Industrial Process Controls project is developing Sequence of Operations documents. These documents are built using the process flow and P&ID diagrams, which drive the development of the network architecture, the hardware components, software application requirements, process control logic and graphical interface. By meeting and interviewing key personnel from plant operations, maintenance and management, combined with pulling data from the project database, Wunderlich–Malec teams follow a well-developed project methodology that provides a concrete mechanism to define and capture the Sequence of Operations documents. During the development of the Sequence of Operations, many key factors to plant operations are identified and documented, including:

• Personnel safety requirements
• Safety circuits, E-Stop zones, SIL levels
• Critical operating parameters, such as flows, pressures, temperatures, etc.
• Upstream and downstream interlocks
• Process bottlenecks
• Instrumentation requirements and specifications
• Redundancy and backup contingencies
• Security levels
• Material and traffic flow