Is the Virtual PLC the Future of Industrial Automation? A Perspective on the IT-ization of Automation
About two months ago, Liam from CEC messaged me on WhatsApp and asked:
“I was at the Hannover Messe and saw that many companies were talking about 'Virtual PLCs.' What's your take?”
I replied:
“Open your eyes and look closely.”
It’s quite evident now — the automation industry is becoming more and more IT-driven. We're seeing a trend where the industry is obsessed with tech showmanship, like a person carrying a hammer and seeing every problem as a nail.
In fact, I had already discussed this topic a couple of years ago with Dr. Baker from e-works and also had a detailed call with Mr. Anderson, a senior expert I respect. Mr. Anderson mentioned that the concept of Virtual PLCs was initially pushed by a German IT company. It was also a major automotive OEM that first demanded such functionality. According to him, a big-name automation vendor was reluctant at first — only moving forward after being threatened with losing the business.
So the origin of Virtual PLCs stems largely from forces aiming to disrupt traditional PLC vendors. That’s not surprising. IT companies trying to enter the OT world often feel they must upend the old guard to demonstrate their own superiority — classic disruption strategy.
In recent years, we've seen a clear convergence trend: IT moving downward toward the edge, and OT moving upward toward the cloud. In parallel, automation vendors are enhancing their capabilities around virtualization and containerization, especially for edge/cloud deployments — focusing on global tasks that require data aggregation, system-wide insights, AI, and optimization.
Today, major automation players like Siemens, B&R, Schneider Electric, and Phoenix Contact are actively developing infrastructure for virtual control, task orchestration, and vertical applications.
Virtual PLCs: A User-Driven Demand
To be specific, Virtual PLCs are largely driven by the demands of end-user manufacturers — particularly for tasks involving optimization, orchestration, and intelligent scheduling. By leveraging general-purpose servers or cloud infrastructure to deploy runtimes, and tapping into Linux ecosystems, open-source algorithms, and development libraries, they enable an IT-style development model.
Virtual PLCs rely on cutting-edge IC technologies. A modern multi-core processor can house dozens, even hundreds, of cores — each capable of running an independent runtime or OS instance (Linux/Windows). Hardware resources like CPU and memory are no longer bottlenecks.
1. Containerization
Container technology is a lightweight method to deploy applications in isolated environments — packaging configuration, runtime, and dependencies into portable units. It’s a clean separation of hardware and software, enabling efficient use of system resources and supporting dynamic task orchestration.
B&R’s X20 Edge controller, for example, supports containerized applications and includes an IIoT connector for OPC UA/MQTT. Both vendor-supplied and user-developed apps can run independently.
2. Operating Systems: The IT Takeover
Linux is gradually replacing legacy RTOS options like µC/OS-II, QNX, and VxWorks. A properly trimmed RT-Linux can easily achieve sub-100μs scheduling, and its ecosystem brings extensive support for AI, analytics, and — crucially — developer talent.
Automation has always been about using the right tools to solve complex electromechanical problems. Now, in the AI era, Linux becomes a natural foundation.
3. IT-Driven Communication
Take OPC UA FX — its design is IT-native. The entire OPC UA framework is object-oriented, modular, asset-aware, and lean-manufacturing friendly. Unlike traditional fieldbuses, Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN), which underpins UA FX, is based on IEEE standards and built with modularity in mind — including its scheduling methods and clock systems.
Previously called "OPC UA over TSN," the term was broadened to "Field eXchange" to include 5G/Wi-Fi. UA FX aims to unify edge-to-cloud communication. Horizontal controller-to-controller (C2C) and vertical controller-to-device (C2D) interfaces are being standardized, with IEC 60802 protocols for C2D expected around 2026.
4. AI for Analysis and Scheduling
From process control iteration to production scheduling, AI is increasingly crucial. For long-cycle, high-volume industries, machine learning is seen as the path to extracting process knowledge from accumulated data.
Digital twins connecting product design, lab testing, manufacturing, and business systems — all through live, dynamically updated data — are becoming feasible. Standards like OPC UA now support not just data, but file/code exchange, enabling these integrations.
Humans simply can’t make sense of this multi-dimensional complexity anymore. AI is not just helpful — it’s essential. It replaces traditional statistical tools and human intuition in seeking insights from high-volume, high-velocity industrial data.
5. Lightweight Applications
Traditional software is "heavy." Buying an entire suite just for a single optimization function? Not efficient. The dynamic tasks Virtual PLCs run often change based on the scenario — and shouldn’t require dedicated hardware and runtime environments.
With containers, apps from different vendors can be isolated and run on a shared OS. This supports lightweight, modular design: “apps” that can be deployed on-demand, without bundling extra hardware or tools. This is a game-changer for cross-disciplinary applications like materials processing, robotics, vision, and more.
What Does This Mean for Automation Vendors?
Users are now willing to pay not just for hardware, but for development services, problem-specific apps, and mechatronic engineering. In essence, automation vendors are morphing into pure software providers.
In the future — where hardware and tools are “equalized” — an automation company’s real value lies in its domain knowledge, process encapsulation, and AI-driven problem-solving capability.
Is Virtual PLC The Future?
To say “Virtual PLCs are the future” implies a binary choice. But the market isn’t that black and white. Traditional logic-only PLCs are still the majority and will remain for quite a while.
Yes, Virtual PLCs represent a technological future. But from a business perspective, they are still in the concept phase. They’re best suited for advanced industrial users with mature IT infrastructure, sophisticated automation layers, and strong AI foundations — and those users are rare.
In the next 3–5 years, expect to see more pilot deployments, but large-scale adoption will take time. It's more accurate to say: Virtual PLCs are one possible future.
And let’s be honest — whether it’s Soft PLCs, Cloud PLCs, AI PLCs, or even “Metaverse PLCs” or “Quantum PLCs” — they all represent the industry’s push to abstract away from hardware.
In automation, it’s never about hype. It's about solving real problems, using the most suitable tools.
As Mr. Harrison once said:
“Don’t get so obsessed with showing off your shovel that you forget to plant the seeds.”