Abstract: The present invention is a data collection system (10) including a scalable data hierarchy for process control, comprising a display screen (22), a storage device, a microprocessor, a data acquisition device (such as a client (12)), and a server (14). The display screen (22) is for displaying information. The information is stored in one or more fields, and the display screen (22) is configured to permit selection of the one or more fields. The storage device is coupled to the display screen (22). The microprocessor is coupled to the storage device and programmed with instructions for manipulating the information. The data acquisition device, such as the client (12), permits selection of at least one field from the one or more fields. Finally, the server (14) is coupled to the data acquisition device for transferring information to the data acquisition device. The server (14) is also for configuring the data acquisition device to store and collect information in the one or more fields.