An Edge–Native Industrial Verification of Request System for Secure and Plausible Control Reconfiguration in Modular Plants

With the rise of Industry 4.0, the convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) has become a critical research area. While IT solutions enhance the connectivity and intelligence of OT systems, they also introduce significant cybersecurity risks to industrial environments. Simultaneously, modular design of plants has emerged as a scalable and reconfigurable paradigm for industrial production, enabling faster deployment and greater adaptability to changing process requirements. However, integrating IT functionalities into such modular systems for remote process monitoring and control reconfiguration in response to dynamic production recipes requires addressing trust, control, and system integrity. In this context, this paper proposes an edge-native industrial verification system to securely interface IT technologies with modular plant operations. The system automatically verifies and authorizes control reconfiguration requests, ensuring only legitimate, contextually plausible actions are executed within modular plants. The system is based on the Namur Open Architecture (NOA) but extends its concept by incorporating features specifically designed for modular plants, such as endpoint mapping based on the Module Type Package (MTP) and a data aggregation system to enhance scalability and interoperability. By embedding security and contextual verification at the edge, the system supports a trusted, adaptive cyber-physical infrastructure for robust, future-ready modular manufacturing systems.