Draft:Open Process Automation Forum

The Open Process Automation™ Forum (OPAF) is a forum of The Open Group. The forum is responsible for development of the Open Process Automation Standard (O-PAS™ Standard) and various other supporting documents.

History
The Open Group Open Process Automation™ Forum (OPAF) held initial formation meetings in 2016 in San Francisco, California. By December 2016, there were 41 member organizations that had joined the forum during the pre-formation stage. The forum was officially formed in 2017.

In 2019, ExxonMobil announced a collaboration agreement with six (6) other companies: Aramco Services Company, BASF, Dow Chemical Company, Georgia-Pacific, ConocoPhillips, and Linde plc. An ExxonMobil test bed was to be operationalized later that year whereby the collaboration partners could test and evaluate the performance of individual components.

Membership
OPAF requires organizations to establish membership with The Open Group before participating in the forum. As of March 2024, the membership roster lists 90+ organizations. Majority of the organizations on the member list are end users, system integrators, and vendors within the process automation industry.

There are eight (8) distributed control system (DCS) vendors listed on the OPAF membership roster :


 * 1) ABB
 * 2) Honeywell
 * 3) Rockwell Automation
 * 4) Schneider Electric
 * 5) Siemens
 * 6) SUPCON
 * 7) Valmet (Metso)
 * 8) Yokogawa Electric

Organization of the Forum
The forum has four main working groups (listed below) and a project manager. The forum has two elected cochairs and a forum director. Each working group is led by two elected cochairs.


 * Enterprise Architecture Working Group (EAWG)
 * Business Working Group (BWG)
 * Technology Working Group (TWG)
 * Certification Working Group (CWG)

Standards
The O-PAS™ Standard

Guides
O PAS™ Adoption Guide


 * The document is 33 pages in length, available in English only, and was initially published in March 2023. The document is written in a "Question and Answer" format and provides guidance on things to consider when adopting and implementing open process automation systems in an end-user facility. The document is written from various perspectives within the process automation business ecosystem.

The Open Process Automation™ Business Guide


 * Initially published in January 2018 and updated in 2021. This document is 60 pages in length and available in English and Chinese translation. The document details the business case, value proposition, guiding principles, and quality attributes of the O-PAS standard. The document also defines the roles of end users, system integrators, and suppliers of hardware, software, solutions and services. The guide further outlines the value proposition for each of those actors in the business ecosystem.

White Papers
The Security Approach of the O-PAS™ Standard


 * Published in March 2023, 16 pages in length, and available in English.

Improving Profitability through Open Process Automation™ Systems


 * Published in November 2021 and available in English and Chinese translation.

Open Standards in Process Automation: The Key to Industrial Profitability


 * Published in July 2019 and available in English and Chinese translation.

Requirements for an Open Process Automation™ Standard


 * Published in May 2018 and available in English.

External Relationships
The Open Process Automation Forum maintains external relationships with a number of standards development organizations and trade associations.


 * Automation Standards Compliance Institute (ASCI)
 * Control System Integrators Association (CSIA)
 * Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF)
 * FieldComm Group (FCG)
 * German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (ZVEI)
 * International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP)
 * International Society of Automation (ISA)
 * OPC Foundation (OPCF)
 * PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG)
 * PLCopen
 * Universal Automation (UAO)
 * User Association of Automation Technology in Process Industries (NAMUR)

Media Coverage
There are dozens of media coverage articles on OPAF listed on the organization website that span 2016 to present.

An Automation.com article from January 2017 groups "suppliers that have joined the effort" as each being in one of "three camps of motivation".


 * Suppliers that want to protect their business with ExxonMobil and other major users that have joined
 * Suppliers that want to gain a greater share of business from ExxonMobil and other major users that have joined
 * Suppliers that see the technological changes and open standards as an opportunity to expand their business.

An LNS Research article from 2017 outlines three possible outcomes for the O-PAS initiative: (A) limited selection, (B) stable and viable market, and (C) lowest common denominator


 * Outcome A: Where a few vendors provide O-PAS products and the majority of end users buy them
 * Outcome B: Where a good percentage of vendors provide O-PAS products and many end users buy them
 * Outcome C: Where most vendors provide O-PAS products and only a few users are willing to buy them

An Automation World article from December 2019 did an overview of the Open Process Automation Forum a few years after formation. The article positions membership at around 135 organizations. The article positively covered the work done by the forum up to that point. It also balances the positive coverage by reporting that "not everyone agrees that this open architecture approach is a good thing." It further details Honeywell and Emerson as two DCS suppliers electing to withhold OPAF participation.