Focusing on the differences between collaborative process automation systems (CPAS) and traditional automation systems, this overview of CPAS is intended for industrial engineers and graduate students in control and automation. In collaboration with other industry experts, the author covers the system architecture and infrastructure required for a CPAS, and looks at OPC and the ISA-95 series of standards. The book begins with a general introduction to process automation and represented industries, and defines CPAS concepts. Subsequent chapters cover the CPAS infrastructure and engineering, and detail technical and management aspects of automation pyramid including alarms and events subsystems, information management, enterprise connectivity, and advanced process control. Final chapters look at the role of human operators, human system interfaces, and alarm management. The book aims to be vendor neutral, but many of the examples are explained using ABB"s System 800xA. B&w screenshots and process diagrams are used to illustrate concepts. Information on Hollender is not provided. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)