The OPA Procurement Guide is a practical, vendor-neutral resource designed to help procurement, engineering, and operations teams navigate the evaluation and sourcing of modern process automation systems. It explains the core principles of Open Process Automation (OPA) and the role of the O-PAS™ Standard, with a focus on interoperability, portability, and lifecycle considerations rather than product selection. The guide is written to support informed decision-making without assuming prior expertise in open automation architectures.

Rather than prescribing solutions, the guide provides a structured framework for understanding architectural options, identifying common procurement pitfalls, and aligning procurement language with O-PAS-aligned system concepts. It is intended to help teams ask better questions, define clearer requirements, and reduce long-term dependency risks when planning automation modernization initiatives. The content is educational in nature and designed to complement, not replace, internal engineering standards or formal procurement processes.