September 1, 2005
The PROFIBUS Interface Center (PIC) is now becoming fully involved in promoting and supporting PROFINET technology in North America. Since four of the leading automotive manufacturers in Europe, members of AIDA – the Automation Initiative of Domestic German Automobile Manufacturers – have publicly announced the adoption of PROFINET, we are beginning to see a great deal of interest here in the US from both end users and device vendors. PROFINET is shaping up to truly be an “international Ethernet solution for automation”. It’s kind of astounding, really, to find that the 27-page brochure “PROFINET Technology and Application – System Description” is available in 7 different languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Polish and Swedish.
In case you’re interested in checking your foreign language proficiency, these documents can all be found at http://www.profibus.com.
Not only is the PIC an accredited PNCC (PROFINET COMPETENCE CENTER), we are also now one of 3 PROFINET device certification test labs in the world. We can support you in the development of a PROFINET interface on your product as well as provide certification testing support.
You should know that ALL PROFINET DEVICES MUST BE CERTIFIED to be called a PROFINET product!
The PROFINET certification tests were developed by PROFIBUS International so that all PROFINET test labs can follow the same test procedures and guarantee the functionality of the devices. The PROFIBUS tests were developed with the same philosophy in mind and have served the PROFIBUS vendor community well over the years. We expect that the PROFINET certification tests will do the same for the PROFINET vendor community!