The State of the Open Process Automation Standard (O-PAS)

Summary

In a presentation during the International Society of Automation’s (ISA) Virtual Process Industry Conference (PIC) on Nov. 17, 2020, Don Bartusiak, president of Collaborative Systems Integration and co-chair of the Open Process Automation Forum (OPAF), gave an overview of OPAF’s published standards and the planned future work of the forum. In particular, he provided insight into the Open Process Automation Standard (O-PAS). 

Bartusiak, who recently retired as chief engineer in process control with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering after 33 years of service, first discussed the motivation for open process automation in terms of what business problems it is designed to solve. In general, the motivations include reduced cost of control system upgrades or replacements, increased value generation by removing barriers to technology insertion, and the ability to build security attributes into the design. 

Open process automation encompasses multiple individual systems: the manufacturing execution system (MES); distributed control system (DCS); programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and human-machine interface (HMIs); safety instrumented systems (SIS); and input/output (I/O) points. 

“The vision for the solution [to the open process automation business problems] is to move away from closed, proprietary, distributed control systems towards a standards-based open, secure and interoperable process automation architecture against which instances of systems can be built that are fit-for-purpose for the asset owner’s needs,” Bartusiak said.  

The state of O-PAS 

This vision is based on a standard called the Open Process Automation Standard (O-PAS), which was founded in November 2016. OPAF, which supports the standard, now includes 103 member organizations, 22 operating companies, six of seven major control system vendors, hardware and software suppliers, and system integrators.  

“One thing that’s unique about OPAF’s approach to standards is that it is not only about the technical work of defining the standard,” Bartusiak said. “We have three activity tracks progressing in parallel: defining the business ecosystem, developing the technical standards, and building conformance certification.” 

Next, Bartusiak briefly discussed the three versions of O-PAS. “In version 1, which was first published in 2019, we address the key quality attribute of interoperability. In version 2, which was published in January 2020, the O-PAS standard addresses configuration portability. Our new phase of work, version three, will address application portability.” 

Bartusiak emphasized that O-PAS is a “standard of standards.” That means OPAF is working with other standards development organizations including ISA. Other organization’s standards related to the seven parts of O-PAS are shown in the chart below.  
 

"O-PAS is a 'standard of standards,'" said Bartusiak. As such, it encompasses multiple standards from other organizations.