On the road again, again… (still?). Nothing like a long plane trip to allow time to catch up on blogging. As I write this I’m en route to Germany for meetings with colleagues from PI and the PI Support Center. I did get to spend two and a half days in the office between Austin and Germany though.
I noticed at the General Assembly Meeting that PTO sometimes gets compared to ODVA. This is not a fair comparison. PTO has five staffers and the PROFI Interface Center has five, too, for a total of ten. I think ODVA has maybe five total including the technical folks. The unfair part is that PTO only covers North America while ODVA is the international headquarters. PTO is one of 25 regional associations and the PIC is one of 35 certified competence centers. PTO and our 24 sister organizations together make up PI (PROFIBUS and PROFINET International). As I finish this, I’m on the train back to Frankfurt to catch a plane home – short trip. The staff at the PI Support Center handles the heavy load of publishing specifications, composing brochures, handling the international website, and more. Of course, we try to help where we can, reviewing documents, providing guidance on the website, etc. There are ten people in the Support Center. Their most important function is directing the 500 volunteers who handle the main work of producing specifications for the technology, testing, and training. The competence centers (and test labs and training centers) are certified by PI and audited annually to ensure a high level of service. The take-away for you: Wherever in the world you are and wherever in the world your products go, you can be sure of local PROFIBUS and PROFINET support.