Process Design - Processes and Steps | AseptSoft Documentation

Process Design is where you define what happens in your plant. You create Processes (e.g., CIP, SIP, Production) and break them down into Steps, where each Step assigns specific States to the Engineering Items on your P&ID.

💡 Think of it this way: A Process is a recipe (like "CIP Cleaning"), and each Step is a stage in that recipe (like "Fill", "Circulate", "Drain"). In each step, you specify exactly which valves are open, which are closed, and what instruments are doing.

🔄 Process

A Process is a sequence of actions over a plant with a desired final result. Each Process consists of ordered Steps and spans across all P&IDs included in the parent Module.

🏭 Common Process Examples in Pharma

Process	Description	Typical Steps
CIP (Cleaning in Place)	Automated cleaning of tanks, pipes, and equipment without disassembly	Pre-rinse → Caustic wash → Intermediate rinse → Acid wash → Final rinse → Drain
SIP (Sterilization in Place)	Steam sterilization of the piping system	Pre-heat → Sterilize (hold at ≥121 °C) → Cool-down → Drain condensate
Production	The main production sequence	Prepare → Fill → Process → Transfer → Complete
WFI Flush	Rinsing with Water for Injection	Open supply → Flush → Drain → Verify conductivity
Drain	Emptying the system after a process	Open drain valves → Gravity drain → Blow-down with nitrogen

Managing Processes

Access the Processes window from the Processes panel in the Module Ribbon.

Available operations:

Action	How To
Create	Click "Create new" button at the bottom of the Processes window
Rename	Right-click the process name and select "Rename"
Duplicate	Right-click and select "Duplicate" — copies all steps and their data
Delete	Right-click and select "Delete"
Reorder	Drag processes to change their order

💡 Tip: Duplicating a process is a fast way to create a similar process. For example, duplicate "CIP" to create "CIP Hot" with minor modifications.

📋 Steps

A Step (historically called "Phase") represents a specific point in time during a Process. In each Step, you assign States to Engineering Items, defining the configuration of the plant at that moment.

What a Step Contains

Component	Description
State assignments	Each Engineering Item is assigned a State (e.g., Open, Closed) with a color
State percentages	Optional percentage values (e.g., a valve at 50% open)
Algorithm conditions	The conditions that must be fulfilled to proceed to the next step
Notes	Notes and Manual Trackers for additional information
Tabular Attributes	Custom attributes for extra data fields

How Steps Work

Each Step has independent state assignments. Changing a valve's state in Step 2 does not affect Step 1 or Step 3.

🏭 Example — A CIP Process with 6 Steps

Step	Description	Inlet Valve (XV-101)	CIP Supply (XV-110)	Drain Valve (XV-103)	Return Valve (XV-104)
1: Pre-Rinse	Flush with WFI before cleaning	Open (green)	Closed (red)	Open (green)	Open (green)
2: Caustic Wash	Circulate caustic solution	Open (green)	Open (green)	Closed (red)	Open (green)
3: Intermediate Rinse	Rinse caustic residue with WFI	Open (green)	Closed (red)	Open (green)	Open (green)
4: Acid Wash	Circulate acid solution	Open (green)	Open (green)	Closed (red)	Open (green)
5: Final Rinse	Final WFI rinse until conductivity passes	Open (green)	Closed (red)	Open (green)	Open (green)
6: Drain	Drain remaining fluid and blow down	Closed (red)	Closed (red)	Open (green)	Closed (red)

Assigning States to Engineering Items

There are several ways to assign states in a step:

Direct selection — Select one or more items on the P&ID, then click a state in the States Gallery in the Live Edit panel
Status Editor — Use the Status Editor for bulk assignment and copy-paste operations
Matrix view — Use the Matrix in the Live Edit panel for a spreadsheet-like overview

Managing Steps

Access step management from the Steps panel in the Module Ribbon.

Action	How To
Create	Click the "New" button in the Steps panel
Duplicate	Click "Duplicate" — copies all state assignments from the current step
Rename	Click the "Rename" button and type a new name
Delete	Click "Delete" to remove the current step
Reorder	Use the arrow buttons to move a step up or down in the sequence
Navigate	Click on step names in the Steps panel dropdown to switch between steps

💡 Tip: When you navigate to a different step, the P&ID updates immediately to show the state colors for that step. This makes it easy to visually compare configurations between steps.

📖 How To: Design a Complete CIP Process

Follow this workflow to create a full CIP process from scratch:

Ensure your Module Data is ready — Make sure you have defined your States (Open, Closed, etc.) and Fluids (WFI, CIP Caustic, CIP Acid, etc.). See Module Data.
Create the Process — In the Processes window, click "Create new" and name it "CIP".
Create your Steps — Add steps in sequence: "Pre-Rinse", "Caustic Wash", "Intermediate Rinse", "Acid Wash", "Final Rinse", "Drain".
Assign States in each Step — For each step, select valves on the P&ID and assign the correct state (Open/Closed). The P&ID will update with colors immediately.
Add Algorithm conditions — For each step, define the transition logic using the Algorithm Design — e.g., "Wait for temperature ≥ 75 °C" or "Wait for timer ≥ 15 minutes".
Review visually — Navigate through each step and verify the P&ID colors match your expected valve positions.
Duplicate and adapt — Use the completed CIP process as a template for similar processes (e.g., "CIP Hot" or "CIP Short").

🧩 Relationship Between Processes and Steps

A Module contains multiple Processes, each with its own sequence of Steps:

Module	Process	Steps
CIP Skid 01	CIP	Pre-Rinse → Caustic Wash → Intermediate Rinse → Acid Wash → Final Rinse → Drain
CIP Skid 01	SIP	Pre-heat → Sterilize → Cool-down
CIP Skid 01	Production Fill	Prepare → Fill → Transfer → Complete

Each Step also contains an Algorithm — a sequence of conditions that define when the step is considered complete and which step comes next.

🧠 Algorithm Design — Define transition conditions between steps
Module Ribbon — Ribbon panels for process and step management
Status Editor — Bulk state assignment tool
🔵 State — How states and colors work
P&IDs and Modules — Multi-P&ID process design
📋 Module Data — All module-level data definitions