PROFIBUS Online Training Course: A Look Back

Launched in April 2021, PI North America’s PROFIBUS Online Training Course has proven popular beyond our wildest expectations

Some Background

For over a decade PI North America hosted one-day PROFIBUS training classes around the country throughout the year. As the market shifted from digital fieldbuses to industrial Ethernet, we also began hosting one-day PROFINET training classes. Then, a few years ago, we shifted to fully PROFINET classes to meet these needs. In the meantime, revisions and updates to the PROFIBUS spec have become smaller and less frequent. Also, new tools have become available that didn’t exist before that make it easy to publish online learning courses. And so the PROFIBUS Online Training Course was born.

Since Launch

As of Dec 2021, the PROFIBUS Online Training Course has been the most viewed page on the PI North America website since its launch in April 2021. In fact, it is viewed even more than the homepage (barely). Over 2,000 people have registered to take the course in just nine months! Two thousand! That’s incredible. The course tagline is:

“A complete PROFIBUS introduction in one structured course”

It is NOT a replacement for in-person or hands-on training by any means. There is no replacement for that. Sitting in a classroom for a day, a few days, or even a week with actual hardware and an instructor is immensely more effective to learn the technology. But for those just starting out and want to learn slightly more than the basics from the comfort of their own computer the PROFIBUS Online Training Course fits the bill. All students receive a training manual plus reference material containing the slides and network design, installation, and commissioning guide manuals. System descriptions, brochures, and other further documentation are also included.

So what are you waiting for?

PROFIBUS Online Training Course