Advanced Process Control (APC)
Advanced process control uses model-based techniques — most commonly model predictive control (MPC) — to run a process closer to its optimal limits than basic PID loops allow, improving yield, energy use and stability while respecting constraints.
Basic control keeps each loop at a set-point; APC coordinates many variables at once, predicting how the process will respond and moving set-points to optimise an objective (throughput, energy, quality) without violating limits. Model predictive control is the workhorse. APC is one of the highest-return digital investments in continuous processes such as refining, chemicals and cement, often paying back in months.
Related terms
Soft Sensor · Machine Learning (Industrial) · Specific Energy Consumption (SEC)
Related guides
Software
AspenTech (aspenONE)
Process modelling and optimization for heavy process industry.
AVEVA Predictive Analytics
Early-warning analytics for critical process and power assets.
Seeq
Advanced analytics for time-series process data.
Where this applies
Commissioning a new pharmaceutical production line · Hot versus cold commissioning · Optimising desuperheater control · State of AI in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing 2026 · State of AI in the Chemical Industry 2026 · State of AI in Mining 2026