In process-control system design, the Computer Aided Design (CAD) techniques have evolved a new generation of design techniques. This also paves the way for implementing Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems (CIMS). However, the key issue to accomplishing the objectives in CAD is the automation of conceptual design. This paper first introduces the fundamentals of conceptual design for process-control system design. Then, a strategy to solve the problems in conceptual design is proposed. The associated system configuration and software implementation platform for developing intelligent systems for process control system design are presented. Finally, an application case is studied.