by Gary Mintchell | Feb 9, 2026 | Automation, Process Control, Software, Standards
The Open Process Automation Forum has been building a standard of standards to promote open and interoperable technology for process automation. PLCOpen has been at the forefront of international standards promulgation as the organization behind IEC 61131. This latter organization has instituted a Working Group to create IEC61131 process automation standard and certifications for application engineers to efficiently deploy PLC, DCS, and open platform controls in process industry applications.
I’ve been following and promoting open and interoperability for decades. This should be a useful step forward.
Bill Lydon sent this explanation of the background and current status of programming standards.
The cost of programming process automation and control continues to grow and is a significant part of project costs. Each supplier having unique function blocks that do not follow a single worldwide standard increases training, application development costs, and project profit risk. PLCopen standardization and modular methodology lowers training time, project development costs, and lowers project cost overruns risk.
This further expands the base of PLCopen standards that enable No-Code/Low-Code industrial automation programming across vendor platforms including industrial computers. This will include incorporation of the function blocks defined in the O-PAS standard into a new PLCopen standard.
The new PLCopen Process Functions standards and certification make it easier for application engineers to deploy PLC, DCS, and open platform controls in process applications.
Working Group Goal
The PLCopen Process Industry Working Group goal is accelerating the convergence of discrete and process control & automation into harmonized PLC, DCS and open platform system architectures to achieve industrial business digitalization.
Today there are a diverse number of ways to program applications for process control and automation. The goal is to develop PLCopen function block standards for process control functions. Function Blocks are encapsulations of variables, parameters and their processing algorithms. Similar standardization has been done with PLCopen standards developed for motion control, safety, fluid power, XML Program Interchange, and OPC UA.
He notes process control applications being done using PLCs. I actually sold a PLC to a chemical plant engineer, who used it to control one of his processes. That was in 1995. So, while unusual, not unheard of.
Today many process control applications are being done using PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) since the capabilities of these devices is far beyond original 1970s relay replacement applications. The emerging use of industrial edge computers with IEC 611 31 runtime software engines is another segment that benefits from the results of the PLCopen Process Industry Working Group.
PLCopen Background
PLCopen has been successful defining IEC 61131 functions and certifications used widely throughout industry worldwide increasing engineering efficiency, quality and empowering a wider number of people in motion control, fluid power, safety, and other functions. The standards define common inputs outputs and behaviors with vendor certifying conformance to accomplish the functions or additional features.
PLCopen Standards
- Logic – The PLCopen basis is provided by the world wide standard IEC 61131, and especially Part 3 – Programming Languages.
- Motion Control – Creating reusable, hardware independent Motion Control applications via IEC 61131-3 and PLCopen Function Blocks including Fluid Power.
- Safety -PLCopen Safety integrates safety functionality into the IEC 61131-3 development environments. Meets IEC 61508 & related standards.
- Communication – PLCopen and OPC Foundation combine their technologies to a platform and manufacturer-independent information and communication architecture.
- XML Exchange – PLCopen added independent XML schemes to IEC 61131-3
Movements including Industry 4.0, Industrial Internet of Things, The Open Process Automation Forum, and Smart Manufacturing are creating a drive for more standards. IEC 61131-3 along with PLCopen extensions and certifications are well established in discrete and hybrid applications and with the addition of OPC Function blocks is already part of the newer Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet of Things offerings.
Working Group
As part of our ongoing efforts to drive standardization and interoperability in industrial automation PLCopen will start a new workgroup exploring the incorporation of the function blocks we have developed for the O-PAS standard into a new PLCopen standard.
The O-PAS (Open Process Automation Standard) is an open, interoperable, and vendor-neutral standard developed by the Open Process Automation Forum (OPAF) to enable flexible and modular process automation systems. It is designed to replace traditional, proprietary DCS’ with a standards-based, plug-and-play architecture, allowing components from different vendors to work seamlessly together. O-PAS is based on existing industry standards, such as (among others) IEC 61131 & IEC 61499.
Part 6.4 of the O-PAS defines a set of standard function blocks to ensure interoperability, consistency, and comparability across different process automation systems. These FBs provide a reference model with standardized inputs, outputs, and behaviors. By establishing a uniform function block framework, part 6.4 supports modular automation, making it easier to adopt open, vendor-independent control solutions. PLCopen helped creating several pre-defined function blocks for part 6.4 of the O-PAS standard.
In order to standardizing these function blocks within PLCopen we are starting a new workgroup to create a new PLCopen standard for the process automation.
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by Gary Mintchell | Feb 4, 2026 | Open Source, Process Control
Yokogawa is a company I just can’t figure out. A former CEO and I had several friendly and informative interviews many years ago. But their automation business in America collapsed, although they retain the office outside Houston along with the instrumentation office outside Atlanta. A marketing person will occasionally send a release.
Discussion the Open Process Automation group, a colleague suggested Yokogawa as a prime mover. I expressed some doubt. I see Foxboro (Schneider Electric) as the company who stands to gain the most from OPAF. I’m not sure where Yokogawa will go.
But their engineering continues its broad involvement with open systems. This news regards its joining the Open Invention Network.
Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that it is joining Open Invention Network 2.0 (OIN 2.0) as a community member. OIN 2.0 is being launched on this date by OIN, an open source patent non-aggression community, to promote the protection and adoption of open source software.
The Open Invention Network (OIN) community promotes the use of open source software through a cross-licensing framework that enables mutual use of patents related to the Linux System*1. The over 4,000 companies that currently belong to the OIN community are provided access to approximately three million patents and patent applications through mutual licensing. The newly launched OIN 2.0 expands the scope of patent protection beyond the traditional Linux System to include emerging areas where open source software usage is growing rapidly, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the energy sector. This evolution enables a cross-licensing framework that supports a broader range of technologies.
Yokogawa signed a license agreement with OIN in 2016 with the aim of accelerating product development and reducing the risks associated with patent litigation, thereby establishing a secure environment for developing system products that utilize Linux. Linux technologies are also used in Yokogawa system products in the OpreX Control and Safety System lineup, such as OpreX Collaborative Information Server. By joining OIN 2.0, Yokogawa has further expanded the range of areas in which open source software can be used with confidence. As a result, customers can benefit from having Linux-based applications and system products that enjoy stronger intellectual property protection.
Yokogawa will continue to promote open innovation and intellectual property protection through co-creation with multiple companies and organizations.
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by Gary Mintchell | Feb 4, 2026 | Generative AI, News, Process Control, Security, Software
This news came last week. Just as I was contemplating the business model of cybersecurity firms following another acquisition, this news of a new company launch with a unique take on security. This company will be interesting to watch. The news comes from Amsterdam concerning the launch of a company called Indurex. Naturally they have AI in their product offering and manage to work in an older term—cyber-physical systems.
The quick take: An AI-powered, human-in-the-loop platform that brings together process safety and cybersecurity, turning complex signals into trusted decisions for resilient critical infrastructure.
Indurex, a pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber-physical systems (CPS) security company, announced on January 27 its official launch to help protect critical infrastructure, smart manufacturing, and connected industrial operations. The company’s mission is to deliver robust, adaptive security solutions that safeguard both the physical and digital worlds as they increasingly converge.
Founded by a team of seasoned experts in operational technology (OT), cybersecurity, and process safety systems, Indurex enters the market at a decisive time. Operators across energy, utilities, and manufacturing sectors face mounting challenges from IT-OT convergence, cyber sabotage, and cascading system failures — putting both process safety and cybersecurity integrity under increasing pressure and exposing essential assets to unprecedented risk. Traditional tools, designed for isolated IT networks or legacy control systems, can no longer assure the level of operational, safety, and cyber integrity required in today’s highly connected industrial environments.
Industrial organisations continue to face a critical gap between process safety and cybersecurity, which are managed in disconnected silos. Existing tools generate high volumes of alerts without sufficient industrial or engineering context, leading to alert fatigue and a limited ability to assess real operational and safety impact. At the same time, a new class of AI-enabled and cyber-physical threats is emerging — capable of exploiting process behaviour, safety dependencies, and human workflows. Detecting and stopping these threats requires AI-native technologies designed for industrial systems, combined with human-in-the-loop intelligence to ensure explainability, trust, and effective decision-making.
Indurex bridges this gap with an AI-native, interoperable platform that unifies engineering context and cybersecurity intelligence — an approach the company defines as Engineering Cyber Intelligence.
This delivers measurable returns across three dimensions:
- Operational Excellence & Safety Integrity: Fewer trips and faster recovery through unified situational awareness and continuous assurance of Safety Integrity Functions (SIF)
- Cyber Resilience: Contextualized detection and response across digital and physical domains, aligned with operational and safety impact
- Cost & Compliance: Automated reporting and defensible evidence of risk, control maturity, and safety integrity across critical systems
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by Gary Mintchell | Feb 2, 2026 | Business, News, Security
I posted news last September that Mitsubishi announced plans to acquire cybersecurity firm Nozomi Networks. That acquisition is now complete.
The viability of all these cybersecurity firms as independent businesses has always sparked curiosity in me. The latest press release puts Nozomi revenues at about $100M. Not a sizable business by today’s standards. But their product certainly hits a sweet spot of demand for customers. Boards and insurers increasingly pressure management to assure security.
An acquiring firm of a generalist technology will always face concerns from companies who don’t use their products. Will we be phased out unless we switch suppliers. These concerns are addressed. Nozomi Networks assures customers it will be operating independently as a wholly owned subsidiary delivering vendor‑agnostic OT/IoT cybersecurity solutions to its global customer and partner community.
From the news release:
Nozomi Networks announced January 27, 2026 that Mitsubishi Electric Corp. has completed its acquisition of the company. Originally announced on September 9, the transaction marks the start of a new phase of growth for Nozomi Networks while preserving the company’s independent operations, vendor‑neutral technology roadmap, and established go‑to‑market partnerships. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nozomi Networks will continue to support the full OT/ICS ecosystem with the same open, multi‑vendor approach that has made it a trusted partner to critical infrastructure operators worldwide.
I’m not sure how a company knows the financial details of its privately held competitors. But Nozomi Networks states it is also the first privately held OT cybersecurity company to achieve sustained cash flow and break‑even performance – further underscoring the strength of its model, the durability of its platform, and the confidence organizations place in its independent, vendor‑agnostic approach.
Other notable milestones the company achieved in 2025 include:
- Significant new and expanded partnerships with global technology leaders including Schneider Electric, Hitachi Cyber, Nvidia, Dispel, and Xona
- 24% employee headcount growth
- Among the fastest growing companies in North America on the 2025 Deloitte Technology Fast 500
- Named to Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies 2025 list
- Named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for CPS Protection Platforms and is a Leader in the Forrester Wave for IoT Security, as well as the only recognized Customers’ Choice in Gartner’s Voice of the Customer for CPS Protection platforms
- Recognized by Gartner as “The Company to Beat for AI in CPS Protection Platforms”
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by Gary Mintchell | Jan 26, 2026 | Automation, Commentary, Generative AI
Vijay Narayan, Business Unit Head, Manufacturing, Logistics, Energy, Utilities at Cognizant, recently spoke with me about what they are seeing in their consulting work with manufacturing and logistics companies. We broached on AI, workforce, and strategy.
Cognizant promotes developing and using digital twins to pilot new machines enabling simulation for optimization. AI for predictive maintenance has been useful for efficiency. He finds progress in adopting automation across the industries he serves as staggered. Same with AI. Companies take one step up and find they can’t go back. The most useful sponsorship for adoption in his experience comes from the CFO. That office asks about how to gain efficiency. At the local level, the plant manager holds the keys to effective adoption.
Following our conversation, I found this press release about a report on analysis of how AI will impact work and jobs.
The new research reveals AI is changing the workforce faster than previously reported: it’s now capable of handling $4.5 trillion in U.S. work tasks and impacting potentially 93% of jobs today. However, the report also underscores that AI is not a blanket solution for advancing labor productivity: human involvement and adaptable operations continue to be vital to capturing the full value potential of AI.
Cognizant’s analysis for New Work, New World 2026 is based on a reassessment of 18,000 tasks and 1,000 jobs in the O*NET labor database, with a focus on how jobs and tasks could be assisted or automated by AI. Specifically, the new study points to an accelerated pace of change in “exposure scores”—the degree to which a job can be assisted or automated by AI—and highlights how those evolving changes can influence labor and enterprise success.
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by Gary Mintchell | Jan 23, 2026 | Automation, Business, Embedded Control, Open Source
I entered the editorial world in the late 1990s during the excitement of something called PC-based control. Technologists of the time were convinced that they could knock off the leading PLC manufacturers with cheaper and easier-to-use technology based on the common personal computer.
This was also the heyday of Open Modular Architecture Controller (OMAC)—a group of engineers working on a standards-based PLC built on a CompactPCI computer that the leading suppliers could build best-in-class modules for but reducing cost and vendor lock-in.
Later, I interviewed many company leaders convinced that their updated PLCs would displace the two acknowledged PLC leaders at the top of the market share pyramid.
All failed.
I asked each one simple question—how are you going to go to market when the leaders have salespeople embedded at every possible customer?
Now comes news that a leading venture capital firm (called by someone on LinkedIn the leading and most influential VC in our space) has invested in yet another attempt to replace the leading PLCs.
I ask of them the same question. Further, does the world really need a new PLC? Are there other customer problems out there to solve?
Here is the news. I wish them well. It will be a tough climb in a mature market. I’m interested in seeing how they will tackle, not the technology, but the marketing.
Momenta, the Industrial Impact venture capital firm, has led the seed round in Autonomy backing the company’s vision to modernize how PLC software is built, deployed, and governed. Through its Autonomy Edge platform, Autonomy brings cloud‑native development discipline to industrial control without compromising determinism, safety, or security.
This investment reflects Momenta’s conviction that industrial automation has reached a true inflection point. As factories face rising cyber risk, tighter labor constraints, and accelerating demands for flexibility, control systems can no longer remain static, proprietary, or isolated from modern software practices. The next phase of automation must be software-defined, interoperable, and designed for continuous change.
Industrial automation remains constrained by proprietary PLC hardware and closed development environments. These systems lock engineers into outdated workflows, fragment IT and OT responsibilities, and slow modernization at the moment when factories need faster outcome-focused iteration.
]Autonomy addresses this constraint directly. Rather than replacing control systems, it modernizes how they are developed and governed. By applying DevOps discipline to PLC software while preserving real-time execution at the edge, the platform aligns control engineering with the operational realities of modern industrial environments.
Autonomy Edge is built on OpenPLC, the world’s leading open-source, IEC 61131-3 compliant, Programmable Logic Controller. Engineers develop PLC logic directly in the browser, with no local installation, and deploy virtual PLCs to any Linux-based industrial device through the Autonomy Orchestrator agent.
This architecture delivers a pragmatic and efficient path for iterative modernization. Existing infrastructure stays in place while control software becomes portable, versioned, and easier to secure. Virtual PLCs run in isolated execution environments and remain centrally managed, combining operational safety with modern lifecycle management.
The result is a rare combination: cloud-native development paired with deterministic edge execution.
A core differentiator of Autonomy Edge is its execution model. Control logic runs in strict network isolation while updates, monitoring, and governance are handled remotely. This air-gapped execution approach significantly reduces attack surfaces while preserving operational visibility, reflecting how industrial operators actually manage risk in production environments.
“We did not just move PLCs to the cloud. We redesigned how control software should be built and governed,” said Thiago Alves, Founder and CEO of Autonomy. “Autonomy Edge modernizes automation without breaking real-time guarantees. Open standards, edge execution, and cloud-native workflows are no longer optional. They are the future of industrial control.”
Autonomy builds on more than a decade of open-source development and field validation:
- OpenPLC Runtime with 1,400+ GitHub stars and 560+ forks
- Cited in more than 100 peer-reviewed research papers on industrial cybersecurity
- Adopted globally by universities for automation and ICS security education
- Industry partnerships with pre-eminent companies like FreeWave Technologies, Arduino, and Movensys
- The release of OpenPLC Editor v4 marks a major platform milestone, delivering a modern interface, cross-platform support, and native integration with Autonomy Edge’s cloud management capabilities.
Autonomy Edge introduces software engineering practices that industrial teams can operationalize today, including browser-based IEC 61131-3 development, cloud-managed versioning and deployment, and hardware-agnostic execution across industrial PCs, gateways, and edge devices.
The global PLC market exceeds $11 billion and is under increasing pressure from cybersecurity requirements, workforce constraints, and the need adapt quickly to changing requirements. Software-defined control, open ecosystems, and edge-native architectures are shifting from optional to essential.
Momenta sees this transition clearly because we operate at the intersection of industrial execution, software platforms, and long-cycle infrastructure. Autonomy exemplifies the kind of operator-aligned innovation required to modernize control systems without disrupting production.
Industrial control is no longer defined only by reliability. It is now defined by adaptability. Autonomy is building the control layer that enables industry to evolve safely and at scale.
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