December 2025 Manufacturing Engineering Standards: New OPC UA Specifications Unpacked

December 2025 brings a significant wave of advancements to the manufacturing engineering sector with the publication of five new OPC UA standards from the IEC. These standards will play a crucial role in the evolution of digital manufacturing, connectivity, and interoperability across industrial automation networks. Covering everything from base network models to industrial information reference types and advanced data mappings, these updates empower manufacturers, engineers, and compliance managers to drive smarter, more secure, and scalable automation systems.

Overview / Introduction

The manufacturing engineering landscape is undergoing a rapid transformation powered by digitization and interconnectivity. International standards—such as those published under the IEC 62541 (OPC Unified Architecture) series—ensure a consistent, interoperable framework for data exchange, security, and communication across platforms and vendors.

Why are these standards so vital? In a field where operational efficiency, data integrity, and machine-to-machine communication are paramount, compliance with the latest standards reduces integration risks, facilitates regulatory adherence, and fosters industry-wide collaboration. This article dives deep into five newly published OPC UA standards—offering an essential guide for:

• Manufacturing and industrial automation professionals
• Compliance and quality managers
• System integrators and engineers
• Researchers and procurement specialists

You’ll learn what each standard covers, the key requirements you need to know, and how they affect your operations for 2026 and beyond.

Detailed Standards Coverage

IEC 62541-22:2025 – OPC Unified Architecture – Part 22: Base Network Model

OPC unified architecture – Part 22: Base Network Model

This new standard introduces a comprehensive OPC UA Information Model tailored for foundational network components prevalent in industrial digital systems. By modeling network interfaces, Ethernet ports, TSN (Time-Sensitive Networking) talkers and listeners, and priority mapping tables, IEC 62541-22:2025 establishes the groundwork for harmonized, high-performance communication within smart manufacturing environments.

Scope and Key Requirements

• Defines parameter sets for TSN talkers/listeners, network interfaces, and ports
• Lays out extensible data types and object types for Ethernet-based systems, with plans for future expansion beyond Ethernet
• Models critical features such as VLAN IDs, stream state, negotiation status, and MAC addresses to ensure fine-grained network control

Who Needs to Comply

This standard is essential for:

• Production system engineers
• Network architects in manufacturing settings
• Solution providers for automation and control systems integrating OPC UA

Practical Implications

Implementing IEC 62541-22 enables:

• Streamlined integration of networked devices using a consistent information model
• Enhanced support for high-reliability, low-latency Ethernet-based communication (crucial for Industry 4.0)
• Simplified modeling in OPC UA Companion Specifications for technologies such as PROFINET and TSN PubSub

Notable Changes & Features

As a new addition to the IEC 62541 series, this standard lays the foundation for consistent base network modeling without deprecating or replacing previous documents.

Key highlights:

• Standardizes information models for TSN talkers and listeners
• Details models for virtual network interfaces and link aggregation
• Prepares ground for upcoming additions supporting non-Ethernet technologies

Access the full standard:View IEC 62541-22:2025 on iTeh Standards

IEC 62541-22:2025 – OPC Unified Architecture – Part 22: Base Network Model

OPC unified architecture – Part 22: Base Network Model

This is a reaffirmation of the above, emphasizing its importance for multiple stakeholders. The network modeling introduced here ensures that both new and legacy systems can coexist and exchange information seamlessly, supporting progressive digital transformation strategies in manufacturing.

Key highlights:

• Builds a standardized base for OPC UA network integration
• Fully documents network-related types and their required attributes
• Models for both physical and virtual interfaces, supporting modern manufacturing plant needs

Access the full standard:View IEC 62541-22:2025 on iTeh Standards

IEC 62541-23:2025 – OPC Unified Architecture – Part 23: Common ReferenceTypes

OPC unified architecture – Part 23: Common ReferenceTypes

This standard focuses on defining ReferenceTypes that are commonly used in industrial information models. These new, more specific ReferenceTypes go beyond those defined in Part 3 of the OPC UA series, enabling richer and more meaningful relationships within OPC UA address spaces.

Scope and Key Requirements

• Introduces ReferenceTypes for expressing physical, logical, and functional relationships between industrial components
• Examples: IsExecutableOn, IsPhysicallyConnectedTo, HasPhysicalComponent, Controls, etc.
• Enhances clarity and interoperability for systems modeling industrial operations, assets, and relationships

Who Needs to Comply

• OPC UA information modelers
• Industrial software developers
• Automation system architects

Practical Implications

By adopting these ReferenceTypes, organizations can:

• Create detailed, portable models that map directly to real industrial processes and systems
• Ensure information objects represent consistent, precise relationships
• Simplify integration and data tracing across multi-vendor systems

Notable Changes & Features

• Adds valuable new ReferenceTypes for complex system architectures
• Encourages best practices when extending OPC UA models for proprietary or domain-specific needs

Key highlights:

• Defines over a dozen new ReferenceTypes for enhanced modeling
• Supports semantic enrichment of industrial digital twins
• Promotes cross-domain compatibility in industrial communications

Access the full standard:View IEC 62541-23:2025 on iTeh Standards

IEC 62541-23:2025 – OPC Unified Architecture – Part 23: Common ReferenceTypes

OPC unified architecture – Part 23: Common ReferenceTypes

This duplicative entry underscores the criticality and wide applicability of common ReferenceTypes. Establishing richer and more contextual relationships—such as physical connections, component containment, or host roles—enables more robust and interoperable industrial data models.

Key highlights:

• Increases expressiveness of OPC UA address spaces
• Facilitates regulatory reporting and safety management by describing real-world relationships
• Promotes interoperability among international manufacturing partners

Access the full standard:View IEC 62541-23:2025 on iTeh Standards

IEC 62541-6:2025 – OPC Unified Architecture – Part 6: Mappings

OPC unified architecture – Part 6: Mappings

A cornerstone of scalable, multi-vendor industrial networks, this fourth edition delivers critical updates to the OPC UA specification, focusing on mapping abstract models and services to actual network protocols. It also addresses major upgrades in data encoding, security, and information representation.

Scope and Key Requirements

• Maps OPC UA security models, service definitions, and data structures to physical network protocols (e.g., TCP, HTTPS, WebSockets)
• Integrates advanced cryptographic support: Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) and Certificate Revocation Lists
• Enhances data encoding (including support for Decimal type, improved JSON and XML mapping, rules for string truncation, and more)
• Specifies rules for encoding new/updated data types and for lossless DateTime conversions

Who Needs to Comply

• Industrial network architects
• Security and compliance managers
• Software developers building OPC UA-compliant systems

Practical Implications

Adoption means:

• Stronger security for industrial networks
• Tighter interoperability when connecting devices and applications across platforms
• Future-ready integration as digital manufacturing expands to cloud and IoT domains

Notable Changes from Previous Editions

• Technical revision updating security (ECC, certificate handling, user/issuer certificate requirements)
• Expanded data encoding support (media types, permissions, UANodeSet enhancements)
• JSON/Decimal improvements for modern data handling and exchange

Key highlights:

• Mandates ECC in UA Secure Conversation for improved cryptographic resilience
• Defines role permissions and new media fields in information models
• Explicit rules for DateTime and string handling in encodings

Access the full standard:View IEC 62541-6:2025 on iTeh Standards

Industry Impact & Compliance

How These OPC UA Standards Affect Manufacturing Engineering

Implementing the December 2025 OPC UA standards in manufacturing engineering will:

• Ensure seamless machine-to-machine (M2M) and system-to-system communication
• Enable secure, robust data integration between shop floor and enterprise IT
• Drive adoption of Industry 4.0 and IIoT principles, facilitating predictive maintenance, digital twins, and real-time analytics

Compliance Considerations & Timelines

• Early compliance ensures competitive advantage and smoother regulatory audits
• New implementations should reference these standards in design phases for 2026 rollouts
• For existing installations, a phased migration plan—backed by robust testing and validation—can help meet the new requirements without disrupting production

Benefits

• Enhanced operational efficiency and reduced integration costs
• Interoperability between vendors, machines, and software
• Advanced security and futureproofing for connected manufacturing systems

Risks of Non-compliance

• Increased cybersecurity exposure
• Integration setbacks and vendor lock-in
• Difficulty meeting future regulatory or partner requirements

Technical Insights

Common Technical Requirements Across These Standards

• Consistent information modeling: Ensures that all network, device, and system entities are described with a common digital language
• Interoperable ReferenceTypes: Allows logical, physical, and functional relationships to be fully mapped
• Advanced data encoding: Mandates lossless, secure, and efficient serialization for different transport protocols and enterprise applications
• Security by design: Promotes robust cryptographic practices, including ECC, certificate validation, and governance

Implementation Best Practices

1. Gap Analysis: Map current systems and data models against new OPC UA requirements
2. Cross-functional Collaboration: Involve IT, OT, and compliance teams early
3. Testing & Certification: Use OPC UA test fixtures and certification programs to validate deployments
4. Modular Integration: Adopt new standards in a modular fashion, minimizing disruption

Testing & Certification Considerations

• Leverage vendor-neutral OPC UA certification labs
• Periodically audit network models for completeness and adherence
• Validate data mappings (JSON/XML/Binary) against standard test suites

Conclusion / Next Steps

The December 2025 release of these five OPC UA standards marks a pivotal milestone for manufacturing engineering. They define the bedrock for data-driven, interoperable, and secure automation systems—setting the pace for how manufacturers will connect, communicate, and compete in the coming years.

Key Takeaways:

• Start your compliance journey early—reference these standards in all 2026 projects
• Invest in workforce training on new OPC UA models, mappings, and security
• Regularly review the iTeh Standards portal for authoritative, up-to-date guidance

Recommendations:

• Align procurement, quality, and engineering stakeholders on the value of OPC UA
• Incorporate the new ReferenceTypes and networking models into digital twin and IoT initiatives

Stay informed and access the full text of each standard through iTeh Standards. Empower your manufacturing operations for the future—one standard at a time.