Abstract: The present invention relates to a path management system for regulating equipment resources which moves process material through a process system. The process system includes a control procedure for implementing a specific process application. The path management system includes a path editor for building different path specifications, each of which defines an equipment set and sequences of equipment operations for a specific process application. A database is interconnected to the path editor for storing the plurality of path specifications built by the path editor. The path management system further includes a path selector for selecting a single path specification for the specific process application from a plurality of path specifications stored in the database. The path selector then validates the availability of equipment resources identified by the selected single path specification at a particular instant in time.