2011 was an extremely successful year for the PROFINET, PROFIBUS, and PROFIsafe communication technologies. Over the course of 2011, PROFINET set a record with 1.3 million new devices brought to the market, expanding the installed base to 4.3 million devices.
The number of PROFIBUS devices increased in 2011 by almost 5 million and achieved an all-time high of over 40.1 million. Of these, more than 6.8 million can be found in process automation plants. With 400,000 PROFIsafe nodes installed in 2011, PROFIsafe also had a record year. This increased the total number of PROFIsafe nodes to over 1.55 million.
This is driven not only by the technologies themselves, but also by the users and “Profinetworkers” who are promoting the technologies with enthusiasm, ideas, and expertise. For example, the close networking of PI with its end users and their respective organizations at the requirements level is ensuring that the technology continues to advance. Regularly scheduled meetings of experts at the working group level as well as strategic meetings at the management level both play an important role here. Prominent examples include NAMUR in process automation that is working to possibly further develop the FDI interface, and AIDA with its commitment to PROFINET in the automotive industry. The result is user-friendly technologies that will be put quickly into practice.
At the same time, users from a wide range of industries are learning from each other thanks to the network of expertise. PI offers technologies for the full range of industrial automation applications – from factory automation and process automation to high-performance motion control applications including functional safety. As a result, the cross-sector network of PI technologies is becoming more and more established and reliable.