The SIMC (Simple control) rule, proposed by Skogestad, is ineffective for a class of processes with oscillatory dynamics and processes defined by transfer functions obtained as a result of ideal decoupling of multiple-input multiple-output systems. For this class of stable processes it is proposed to apply a higher order filtering to the open-loop process step response and to approximate the filtered step response with stable SOPDT models. These models are used to obtain a high performance/robustness tradeoff by the ideal series PID controllers, tuned by the SIMC rule, with the higher-order filter in the feedback loop. Parallel PID controllers, with higher-order noise filters, tuned by applying exact process frequency response and optimization under constraints on the robustness and sensitivity to measurement noise, are used to demonstrate merits of the proposed simple design and tuning of the series PID controller. Experimental results on a mechanical laboratory plant are presented in Appendix. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.