Representative End User Clients
Representative Automation Clients
Representative Software Clients
KEYWORDS: Open Process Automation (OPA), OPAS, Open Process Automation Forum (OPAF), Distributed Control Systems (DCS), IEC 61499, IEC 61131-3, Software-Defined Control, Containerization, Orchestration, Interoperability, Portability
Overview
In this OPA Forum session, ExxonMobil’s Whit McConnell (Chief Automation & Process Control Engineer) reviewed the company’s first-in-kind Open Process Automation (OPA) deployment and what the team learned by placing an OPAS-aligned distributed control system into production on a live hydrocarbon unit at ExxonMobil’s Resins Finishing Plant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The system was cut over at the end of 2024 and, although not without the expected “new system” issues, ExxonMobil reports it ran through 2025 with no major issues and no significant interruptions to operations and continues to run today. For owner-operators, this matters because it moves OPA from a promising architecture discussion to a field-validated implementation that had to meet day-to-day reliability, maintainability, and operator expectations.
The OPAS-aligned DCS was deployed at the end of 2024 and, although not without the expected “new system” issues, ExxonMobil reports it ran through 2025 with no major issues and no significant interruptions to operations and continues to run today.
McConnell framed the Lighthouse as the culmination of years of ExxonMobil advocacy for open standards in process control: broader connectivity, reduced engineering effort, and improved reuse of control intellectual property across sites and projects. He emphasized that the Baton Rouge system was assembled from components across multiple suppliers and incorporated software that was new at this scale, making the stability achieved post-cutover a meaningful signal for ecosystem maturity. Finally, he noted ExxonMobil’s intent to continue applying open standards where appropriate, citing a second, smaller project in Baton Rouge (the Anchorage Chemical Terminal tank farm) that will use an IEC 61131-3-centric, PLC-oriented approach. ExxonMobil’s position is that IEC 61499 and IEC 61131-3 are complementary, chosen based on the control problem, engineering workflow, and lifecycle needs rather than as competing ideologies.
ARC’s guidance is to treat OPA and software-defined automation as long-term lifecycle strategies, not one-time technology swaps. End users should anchor the business case in lifecycle economics and operational outcomes, procure for interoperable results with explicit multi-vendor accountability, and build the operating model needed for repeatable deployment, patching, rollback, and recovery. ARC also recommends starting with bounded Lighthouse projects that stress day-two operations, planning for phased integration in brownfield environments, remaining pragmatic on IEC 61499 versus IEC 61131-3 based on use case and supportability, and engaging with the ecosystem to sustain progress and reduce fragmentation risk.
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