We recently traced some minor process instability back to a control valve consistently operating at its travel limits, even though the main process variable looked stable on the HMI. The PID loop was handling the process variable adequately, but the actual valve position itself wasn’t trended or alarmed anywhere visible to operations. The valve was constantly pushing 5% or 95% open to maintain the setpoint, indicating a significant process disturbance or poor tuning, but this critical diagnostic wasn’t surfaced until deeper investigation. This meant we missed early signs of upstream flow variations or valve degradation until the process deviation became too large for the valve to handle. The PLC was using the feedback, but we weren’t monitoring it effectively from a human operations standpoint.How do others ensure critical control element diagnostics, like valve position, are properly monitored and alarmed to prevent these kinds of operational blind spots?