Process control encompasses the means by which tasks are accomplished by industries, machines, or organisms. Process control mechanisms are found in all complex systems, whether they are mechanical, electrical, or biological—human-made or natural. Major applications of process control are found in such continuous production industries as energy, oil refining, pulp and paper, and steel, and in such complex machines as cars, planes, computers, and robots.

In the context of computer science, process control is defined as the use of a computer system to automate and regulate the operations or processes of a system. One of the challenges in the industry regards the fact that processes often proliferate faster than they can be identified, defined, and managed using high-quality, reliable standards. Because of this, process control has increasingly come to include the coordination and accumulation of human expertise ("organizational memory") as well as the...