Continuing with news from the PI North America General Assembly Meeting, Martin Raab of the PROFI Interface Center updated us on engineers and installers certified and products certified. Certification plays an important role in the PROFIBUS and PROFINET community.
PI certifies PI Competence Centers (PICCs), PI Test Labs (PITLs), and PI Training Centers (PITCs). Each of these organizations is audited every two years to ensure they continue to provide the high level of service we demand. There are about 40 PICCs, 10 PITLs, and 18 PITLs around the world. (Not to brag or anything, but we are the only organization of our kind that provides these kinds of institutions. Ok, I bragged.)
PI Test Labs certify PROFIBUS and PROFINET products for conformance to the specifications. PROFIBUS certification is optional; PROFINET certification is mandatory. We always recommend users use only certified PROFIBUS devices. Users recommended that we make certification for PROFINET products mandatory.
PI Training Centers certify installers and engineers for competency in PROFIBUS and PROFINET. We don’t mention the certified installer classes enough. They are typically conducted onsite as one-day classes. There are three Certified Network Engineer classes: PROFIBUS DP, PROFIBUS PA, and PROFINET. You can find a list of the Certified Network Engineer classes online.
The full list of PICCs, PITLs, and PITCs is on www.profibus.com as part of the PI Community. In North America, the PROFI Interface Center and RC Systems are listed. We have one more PICC being established here as well.
–Carl Henning