As a general term, Supervisory Control means the use of microcomputers and workstations to accomplish operator interface, data acquisition, process monitoring, and some degree of production control.
In chemical processing, Supervisory Control is the next step in automation after Regulatory Control (RC). RC maintains a process parameter (for example, temperature) when an operator sets the required value. In Supervisory Control, a computer may change the required value over time, for example for a reaction which needs a smooth change of temperature over a time period.