Chemical Engineering June 2023 - 26

level to the higher-level control system.
The inclusion of a universal data
bus would allow seamless integration
between systems provided by different
vendors. Once in place, a control
system developed under the standard
architecture could be upgraded
with minimal or zero downtime.
Although the appendix focuses on
a greenfield scenario, the key points
apply, as well, to brownfield cases.
The open architecture and universal
data bus would expedite the integration
of existing equipment and
process units that a manufacturer
retrofits to incorporate a new product
line. It would also greatly simplify
the addition of emerging optimization
solutions, such as advanced,
real-time, artificial intelligence (AI)based
analytics.
Consolidated business scenario
The O-PAS Business Guide also
includes a consolidated business
scenario, which highlights benefits
that are shared by a number of vertical
markets. Many of these benefits
are critical to the biopharmaceutical
manufacturing industry.
Not only is a faster time-to-market
essential for survival in the " new
normal " business environment, but
pressure to increase product quality
while decreasing costs of production
also continues to build.
Often, the capabilities of existing
process-control systems are reaching
their limits. Such systems, especially
when they are proprietary, prevent
end users from deploying the
" best-in-class "
software
solutions
that would enable them to address
their key challenges in the most effective
manner.
Another problem with proprietary
systems is that components from different
suppliers do not work together.
Integrating process control systems
from those suppliers is very difficult
and costly due to the interoperability
work involved. Seamless interoperability
can substantially reduce direct
and indirect costs. Direct costs result
from the reduction in time needed for
engineering development and support.
Indirect cost savings result from
the fact that operators do not need to
learn to work with multiple systems.
The industry has identified numerous
26
Concluding remarks
Open process automation offers
many opportunities for the biopharmaceutical
industry. Most important
is the improved production throughput
for new medicines and therapies.
OPA enables a faster time-tomarket
by expediting the integration
of OEM skids in a modular manufacturing
architecture.
This also greatly improves data
collection, analysis and reporting. By
settling on the control systems with
which skid-mounted process units
are supplied, the industry risks sacrificing
the availability of data for analytics
and optimization.
An OPA system also reduces prorisks
associated with operators facing
distractions and overloading.
The guide goes on to state that
running and maintaining a facility is
a challenging task. There is more
emphasis than ever before on maximizing
uptime and minimizing downtime,
particularly, in the latter case,
unplanned outages. A major benefit
of OPA is that it simplifies technology
refreshes and version updates. By
minimizing the inherent risks in these
projects, OPA keeps planned downtime
as brief as possible and also enables
updates with zero downtime.
The guide adds: The maintenance
of an O-PAS System is upgrade-byrepair,
which means that the O-PAS
conformant replacement component
can be applied without interruption,
without necessity to take the system
out of service, will have the same capabilities
as the component that is
replaced, and may come with additional
upgrades and improvements.
OPA provides cybersecurity by
design. The cybersecurity capabilities
exceed those in today's control
systems. Cybersecurity is embedded
in the hardware, as well as in
the software. A key benefit of the
O-PAS Standard is that it ensures
that all components are trusted and
have enabled all the appropriate security
capabilities.
Finally, the O-PAS Standard allows
applications to be used in many systems.
Secure portability enables the
replication of intellectual property (IP)
throughout the control systems as it
is platform-agnostic.
duction costs through lower costs
and less time to integrate, configure,
and implement process control
technology. Manufacturers can defer
capital spending to later stages in
clinical trials.
Once production is online, OPA
provides for reduced downtime by
utilizing online upgrades and system
expansions. Users will also find that
open standards will simplify the integration
of new technology via its process
control architecture.
OPA provides seamless interoperability
between control system
components from a variety of manufacturers
and system suppliers to reduce
the time for engineering development
and qualification as the result
of the selection of broadly accepted
communication standards. It allows
users to rapidly integrate automation
equipment from any number of suppliers
in the industry.
OPA offers the capability to use
" best-in-class " solutions from any
supplier. Users are no longer limited
to solutions from a single supplier.
The best-in-class solutions could
include, for example, AI-based advanced
analytics in the " cloud " or
at the " edge. " These solutions allow
users to accelerate their manufacturing
process performance and quality
while reducing costs.
n
Edited by Scott Jenkins
References
1. Bartusiak, D., Industry Adoption of Open Process Automation,
Chem. Eng., May 2023, pp. 36-41.
2. Finnan, K., Open Process Automation is Gaining Sustainable
Momentum, Chem. Eng., January 2023, pp. 39-41.
3. The Open Group, O-PAS Business Guide, Value Proposition
and Business Case for the O-PAS Standard, 2021, The Open
Group, publications.opengroup.org.
Author
Kevin Finnan is a market intelligence
and strategy advisor at Yokogawa
(12530 West Airport Blvd.,
Sugar Land, TX 77478; Phone:
1-800-524-7378; Email:
kevin.
finnan@yokogawa.com). He was
previously an independent consultant,
vice president of marketing
for CSE-Semaphore, and director
of marketing at Bristol Babcock.
He has over 30 years of experience in a variety of vertical
markets and has launched more than 40 products in
automation and measurement technologies.
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