The complexity of modern process plants is steadily increasing – and thus the demands placed on automation systems. Today, the validation and testing of an automation system is a demanding task, usually executed under very tight schedules. Therefore, the use of simulations to check-out the automation system earlier in the engineering phase can be very beneficial. This paper investigates the possibility of automatically generating simulation models based on plant engineering data, usable for virtual commissioning. The proposed mechanism is usable without any specific additional application and can be realized with the plant engineering and simulation tool alone. The concept and workflow will be described in detail, and the paper concludes with a case study based on a prototypical implementation. Based on the proposed concept, the reuse of engineering data to generate simulation models, and thus the broader use of simulation throughout the lifecycle, becomes easier and therefore more feasible.