Method for Integrating a Facility Component into a Communication Network of a Technical Facility

A method for integrating a facility component into a communication network of a technical facility comprising a process facility or production facility, the method comprising:

• a) ascertaining an integration service of the technical facility via the facility component;
• b) communicating information regarding integration method types supported by the facility component to the integration service of the technical facility via the facility component);
• c) taking into account information available to the integration service of the technical facility regarding integration method types supported by the communication network of the technical facility and the information regarding integration method types supported by the facility component as communicated by the facility component, and checking via the integration service whether automated integration of the facility component into the communication network of the technical facility is possible;
• and
• d) integrating the facility component into the communication network of the technical facility in an event of the automated integration of the facility component into the communication network of the technical facility being possible, in a context of the execution of the integration of the facility component, the method includes:
• i) communicating an integration plan from the integration service to the facility component, the integration plan comprising information about which integration method type or which integration method types, if applicable in which order, are used in at least one integration step and which integration partner of the technical facility is used in each case, and the integration plan further comprising information about at least one of certificate profiles and key usage purposes which are to be taken into account when requesting certificates for the facility component for communication in the communication network;
• and
• ii) performing an automated execution of the integration step or the plurality of integration steps.