PROFINET, the Solute in the Automation Solution

テクノロジーI cannot believe that I could not find his quotation on the Internet: “If you’re not part of the solution you must be part of the solute.”  I have seen it written down… on the men’s room wall in the Chemical Engineering building at university.  And this does relate to PROFINET, as all things seem to for me lately.

A solution (in chemistry) consists of a solute dissolved in a solvent.  According to the dictionary, the solute is “the minor component in a solution, dissolved in the solvent.”

So, if PROFINET is perceived as the solute in the automation solution, it is a “minor component” in the automation solution.  That perception is wrong!

When one of my colleagues started his “sales pitch” on the value of PROFINET, his target said that he already uses PROFINET and “PROFINET just works.”  When I think of the value of PROFINET, I think of diagnostics, bumpless redundancy, deterministic performance, and much more, but… PROFINET just works.  In fact, this post was triggered by a couple nice app stories that mention that their projects use PROFINET.  They just mention PROFINET in passing – probably because PROFINET just works.  It’s a “given” that of course PROFINET works – no further explanation required.

Remember: there is no solution without the solute; there is no automation solution without PROFINET.

–Carl Henning