System and method for managing industrial processes

A method of discovering automatic control devices using a mobile computing device, the mobile computing device implementing a control device interface, the method comprising:

• providing, via the control device interface, a discovery request to at least one automatic control device of a plurality of automatic control devices in data communication with the network, the discovery request being encoded according to a first protocol;
• receiving a response to the discovery request from the at least one automatic control device;
• providing a request for identification to the at least one automatic control device, the request for identification being encoded according to a second protocol;
• receiving a response to the request for identification from the at least one automatic control device;
• and
• identifying the at least one automatic control device as an automatic control device based on the response to the request for identification, wherein the second protocol is an industrial protocol.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon sequences of instruction for discovering automatic control devices in data communication with a network including instructions that will cause at least one processor of a mobile computing device to:

• provide a discovery request to at least one automatic control device of a plurality of automatic control devices in data communication with the network, the discovery request being encoded according to a first protocol;
• receive a response to the discovery request from the at least one automatic control device;
• provide a request for identification to the at least one automatic control device, the request for identification being encoded according to a second protocol;
• receive a response to the request for identification from the at least one automatic control device;
• and
• identify the at least one automatic control device as an automatic control device based on the response to the request for identification, wherein the second protocol is an industrial protocol.