Open Process Automation: Architecture, Execution & Transformation

For forty years, process plants have run on control systems defined by a single vendor's platform. That architecture delivered reliability — and quietly imposed a ceiling on how fast a plant can change. Open Process Automation removes that ceiling.This is a practical guide to the architectural shift behind O-PAS™, the open, vendor-neutral standard from the Open Process Automation Forum. It moves past principles to structure: how distributed control nodes, a shared connectivity framework, and a common information model let an operator compose a control system from conformant components rather than buy it whole.Inside, you'll find a clear treatment of the O-PAS architecture and execution model, the "late binding" that compresses project timelines, migration through coexistence, procurement by interface, lifecycle economics, governance, failure modes, and the full business case for architectural control — plus a case study of the ExxonMobil-led OPAF program.Written for engineers, system integrators, and the operations leaders deciding what comes after the DCS. Read more