Abstract: A methodology has been developed that identifies how pairing the process and manipulated variables will improve process performance. Within an industrial processing plant there are many challenges to determining the strategy of the controller. Some of the challenges include the identification of the existence of a control loop, the operating mode of the control loop (manual versus automatic) and the desired coupling of the process variables within the industrial plant to maximize production performance. A demonstration of this methodology illustrates the potential improvement to be realised within an industrial plant.