What’s the logical sequence to use to describe PROFINET?
For the one-day training classes, we put everything in the context of the PROFINET of Things (IIoT and Industrie 4.0).
For the PROFINET introduction webinar, we went from definition to use in application spaces (factory, process, motion) to features.
For the PROFINET System Description, we moved from overview to technical details.
But for most of us control engineers, we encounter PROFINET in a project. We are called upon to provide the controls for a machine or production line. We work the project through five phases:
Design – the hardware part
Configuration – the software part
Installation – the part where the electricians wire things wrong
Commissioning – the part where we find what the electricians did wrong (or maybe us)
Operation/Maintenance – the making money for the company part AND where our design, our maintenance-friendly HMI screens, and other tools prevent and shorten downtime.
So why didn’t we present things this way? Actually, we did. In a webinar called Completing a PROFINET Project. With my many years designing controls for plastics machinery and many more years with System Integrators, this is the logical sequence for me. If you are a control engineer, it’s probably a logical sequence for you too. View the webinar.
–Carl Henning