Open process automation-based control system announced

ASRock Industrial is working with the Coalition for Open Process Automation (COPA) formed by CPLANE.ai and Collaborative Systems Integration (CSI) on the development of the first open-industrial control systems based upon the Open Process Automation Standard (O-PAS).

By ASRock Industrial November 17, 2021
ASRock and COPA will co-construct open-industrial control systems with information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) vendors to elevate the world's leading industrial companies in their journey through operation transformation and the accelerating Industry 4.0. Courtesy: ASRock, COPA

ASRock Industrial partners with the Coalition for Open Process Automation (COPA) formed by CPLANE.ai and Collaborative Systems Integration (CSI) on the development of the first open-industrial control systems based upon the Open Process Automation Standard (O-PAS), increasing the competitiveness of manufacturing companies and accelerating implementation of Industry 4.0 through open platforms. The vision of COPA is to speed up the adoption of O-PAS based control systems among industrial manufacturers in diverse vertical markets. As a member of COPA, ASRock Industrial will integrate its iEPF-9000S/ iEP-9000E Series Edge AIoT Platform, iEP-5000G Industrial IoT Controller, and iBOX 1100 Series Embedded BOX PC into COPA QuickStart system.

Together, they will co-construct open-industrial control systems with information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) vendors to elevate the world’s leading industrial companies in their journey through operation transformation and the accelerating Industry 4.0.

The need for vendor and technology-neutral open-industrial control platforms continues to rise to avoid vendor lock-in when upgrading and scaling distributed control systems. ASRock Industrial will collaborate with CPLANE.ai and CSI through the COPA partnership to create O-PAS-informed control systems for higher flexibility and efficiency. Integrating their systems will enable advanced control strategies using computationally intensive applications like model predictive control (MPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

“Open industrial and process automation systems now make phenomenal shifts towards higher efficiency and profitability with more open, integrated, and secure industrial control architecture that can be applied across industries. As the industrial trend moves toward further openness, ASRock Industrial can greatly collaborate with COPA partners in the creation of an open-process-automation-based system to make the manufacturing companies more efficient and competitive, more than ready for Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT),” said James Lee, president of ASRock Industrial.

“Industrial automation is one of the largest markets that has yet to embrace modern IT technologies due to the prevalence of proprietary industrial control systems. This has led to significant vulnerabilities to cyber threats and to missed opportunities to implement productivity enhancing software. COPA was created by leading IT and OT vendors to address this market need with open-architecture systems based upon open standards. With an industrial computing leader like ASRock Industrial, the COPA system is able to implement far more advanced control strategies, pervasive cybersecurity detection and prevention, and predictive maintenance analytics deep within the control system architecture,” said Bob Hagenau, CEO of Silicon Valley software company, CPLANE.ai.

– Edited from a ASRock Industrial press release by CFE Media.

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