Unlocking the Future of Industrial Automation

ADI + Siemens Integrated OPA Testbed at MxD
Demonstrating real-world, multi-vendor interoperability in a live industrial environment.

Open. Interoperable. Intelligent.

The Integrated Open Process Automation (OPA) Testbed is an innovative automation ecosystem developed through a partnership between ADI, Siemens, the University of Michigan, and MxD. The testbed leverages real-time communication between disparate software platforms, distributed control, and adaptive machine learning models to bring the vision of software-defined manufacturing to life.

Built for the Factory of the Future

Whether you’re a plant manager, CTO, systems integrator, or defense supplier, the OPA Testbed serves as a reference implementation for modern, data-driven manufacturing. It demonstrates how digital engineering principles can be applied today to build smarter, more resilient industrial systems.

This testbed demonstrates:

  • A flexible control and communication architecture that supports future updates and enhancements
  • Digital twins and machine learning models that provide real-time diagnostic and predictive insights, maximizing the value of untapped operational data
  • Improved uptime, safety, and operational agility with closed-loop intelligence and flexible system architecture
  • Reduced vendor dependency and tech stack rigidity, accelerating innovation and adaptability

This is not theoretical, it’s live and operational on MxD’s factory floor in Chicago.

Why It Matters

Legacy manufacturing systems are often limited by rigid control architectures, vendor lock-in, and underutilized data. The OPA Testbed removes these constraints to unlock advanced smart manufacturing capabilities. Built on OPA principles, it unites ADI’s ADEPT platform and Siemens’ PCS neo through real-time OPC UA communications. This enables AI-based anomaly detection and fault prediction functions that provide novel insights into process and equipment health.

Testbed Architecture: The OPA Testbed includes several Distributed Control Nodes (DCNs) connected by the O-PAS-aligned Connectivity Framework (OCF). The Siemens DCN connects the process skid to the OCF, making real-time process measurements accessible to other nodes. The ADI Local DCN hosts digital twins that perform anomaly detection and fault prediction, and the ADI Cloud DCN monitors the health of local hardware and software assets.

Explore the Tech

The Integrated OPA Testbed brings to life a modern digital engineering environment for manufacturing. It demonstrates how open, standards-aligned systems can deliver real-time performance, vendor-neutral interoperability, and AI-powered analytics.

Key Features:

  • Real-time, bi-directional OPC UA communication between Siemens PCS neo and ADI’s ADEPT platform
  • Purpose-built digital twins for anomaly detection and fault prediction, powered by machine learning models trained on historical datasets
  • Automated model retraining processes that leverage live process data
  • Scalable, secure architecture bridging local and cloud-based systems

This testbed is not a lab simulation—it’s a working implementation of digital engineering principles. It shows how engineering teams can unify control, sensing, and computing equipment to increase reliability, reduce downtime, and accelerate decision-making across the full product lifecycle.

User Interface

Real-time measurements from the process skid are displayed on the Process Monitoring Panel, built using ADI’s ADEPT software platform
The Communication Monitoring Panel depicts the testbed’s communication pathways and messaging rates
Outputs from a collection of anomaly detection digital twins are visible on the Anomaly Detection Panel, along with signal-specific anomaly diagnosis plots.
Outputs from a collection of anomaly detection digital twins are visible on the Anomaly Detection Panel, along with signal-specific anomaly diagnosis plots.
The Fault Prediction Panel contains fault injection controls and plots describing equipment degradation history and predicted fault times.
The Fault Prediction Panel contains fault injection controls and plots describing equipment degradation history and predicted fault times.

Watch the Presentation
On-Demand

Discover how the Integrated OPA Testbed is redefining process manufacturing. This presentation highlights how open networks and decentralized control unlock greater interoperability, improved data access, and advanced analysis, showing industry professionals the real-world benefits of OPA in action.