Methods and systems (100) for modeling operations of a physical plant (110) are presented. For instance, a system (100) includes at least a first component (111) and a second component (112). The first and second components (111), (112) have at least one physical connection (130a). First and second model operational parameters of the physical connection are received from first and second models 121, 122, respectively. The first and second models (121), (122) are updated with the second and first model operational parameters, respectively. In one example, the first and second models (121), (122) run on different computer systems. In another example, real-time operational data is received from the first and second components (111), (112), and the first and second models (121), (122) are updated with the real-time operational data received from the second and first components, respectively. In a further example, the system (100) may receive and process simulation input. In various examples, the physical connections (130a) may include a material stream, a rotating shaft or a control signal.