Posts Tagged ‘profinet’
PROFINET: Stable and Changing
Stability and Change do not have to be mutually exclusive. When such a dichotomy is presented I am reminded of Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras. They make the point “No ‘Tyranny of the or’ (embrace the ‘genius of the and’)”. And so it is with…
Read MoreWhy PROFINET?
There are many Industrial Ethernets to choose from – what features set PROFINET apart? There are many, but for today let’s focus on these: Adoption, Speed, Diagnostics, and Ecosystem. Adoption – PROFINET has the largest installed base of any Industrial Ethernet. And it’s growing faster than number two globally and in North America. Having the…
Read MoreOpen Networks: What’s in it for you?
It takes a village to raise a… standard, at least, an open standard. In the case of PROFINET, that village consists of like-minded companies that recognize the benefits of working together towards a common, open standard. What’s in it for them? At least these couple things: 1. A cross-pollination of ideas from many sources fulfills…
Read MoreSafety the Movie is Online
In February of 2007, Safety the Movie debuted in Phoenix (post: Safety the Movie debuts in Phoenix). In the PROFIBUS and PROFINET world when we think functional safety, we think PROFIsafe. Yet PROFIsafe only ensures message delivery. An important role to be sure; the role of enabler. But there is more to functional safety than…
Read MoreGo with the Network that Works Part 2
This is a continuation from a recent post Go with the Network that Works with additional background to an article by Dan Hebert: Industrial Ethernet Cruises Powerfully Along in Industrial Networking. I like the subtitle in the print version: “Industrial Ethernet Cruises Powerfully Along. But Can It Be More Than You Really Need? Are Simpler,…
Read MoreGo with the Network that Works
I enjoy working with editors from the trade press – contributing to whatever topic they’re writing about. Of course, they have limited space in which to present their topic and they have to include viewpoints from multiple sources. Having neither of those restrictions here let me provide some additional background to a recent article by…
Read MoreThe Infrastructure Conference
The Infrastructure Conference? No, it was The Automation Conference, but the Industrial Ethernet panel I was on spent a lot of time talking about infrastructure. I was there representing PROFINET (and Industrial Ethernet protocols in general to some extent), but most of the other panelists were from vendors. We spent some time discussing wire, connectors,…
Read MoreFieldbuses, down; Industrial Ethernets, up?
Fieldbuses are down and Industrial Ethernets are up? Is that what a new IMS Research study shows (How Sustainable is an Industrial Fieldbus Infrastructure?)? Or, as Larry O’Brien put it in his blog post (What’s in a Node? Putting Market Research in Perspective): “[T]he study results have caused quite a stir in the media because…
Read MorePROFINET one-day training class – What is it like?
I’m sure you’ve been wondering what a PROFINET one-day training class is like. (Unless you’re one of the thousands of folks who have already attended one.) Here’s what happens: Badge pickup and onsite registration begin early on class day, like 7:00am. The class does not start until 8:30 but some folks arrive very early, perhaps…
Read MoreHanover Fair – Diagnostics
PROFINET diagnostics are a huge differentiator for PROFINET. Building on the concepts pioneered by PROFIBUS (at the device, module, and channel level), PROFINET adds diagnostics for the Industrial Ethernet network. Because PROFINET is just Ethernet, it leverages IT protocols to prevent or quickly find problems. How does that help? This short animation, introduced at the…
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