Process fieldbuses and open fieldbus safety protocols have caught the attention of process users in recent years thanks to the potential to cut costs and improve diagnostics. Separate the facts from the hype in this ARC white paper: Profisafe and Profibus for High Availability and Safety in the Process Industries.

Executive Summary Excerpt

Process automation has profited tremendously from technology advances in recent years. Distributed intelligence, network safety protocols, Industrial Ethernet, and wireless networking are just a few of the enabling technologies that have brought measurable value to process manufacturing. But, traditionally, process users are extremely conservative decision-makers who don’t accept new technology until it is well proven, or until investments in these technologies can be corroborated with solid business arguments. To help users sort out facts from the hype, manufacturers are learning how to match technology benefits to specific business metrics.

Process fieldbuses and open fieldbus safety protocols have caught the attention of process users in recent years thanks to the potential to cut costs and improve diagnostics. Modern fieldbuses have helped to unify network architectures and created a high level of data transparency from which applications such as Plant Asset Management and Manufacturing Execution Systems profit tremendously. At the same time, process safety solutions have evolved from being a cost burden and “necessary evil” to a strategy for improving productivity by increasing system availability.

Profibus International, an industrial consortium of automation suppliers, has mated safety with industrial networking to create solutions for “built-in” safety based on all available media. End-users are now taking advantage of these technologies to unify their network architectures and eliminate the need for a second, parallel bus while achieving safety integrity levels up to SIL3. Benefits of networked safety include shortened start-up times, lower wiring costs, better diagnostics, and, in the long-term, faster and more efficient maintenance.

Because process instrumentation customers have made substantial investments in existing Profibus PA-, HART- or Foundation Fieldbus H1-compatible process field devices, the adoption of any new technology will be evolutionary, rather than revolutionary. In addition, many process plants have installed bases of intelligent devices – from simple remote I/O to motor control centers – that are networked with legacy device networks such as Profibus DP, Foundation Fieldbus, or DeviceNet. Therefore, the key success factor for new networking solutions in process plants will be
the availability of a migration path that lets users preserve their investments in legacy networks and devices by integrating existing networks into a common backbone.

Table of Contents

Safety and Availability: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Business Drivers in Process Automation and Safety
PROFIBUS and PROFIsafe Build the Foundation for Process Safety
Case Study: Profisafe in a Pipeline Compressor Station
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Privacy Policy

At PI North America, we respect your privacy. We want to ensure that you get the information, content, and experiences that matter most to you. PI North America is committed to protecting the privacy of its members, customers, volunteers, and other contacts.

Scope

This privacy policy applies to all personal data (in this privacy policy also referred to as personal information) processed by full-time and part-time employees, volunteers when acting on behalf of PI North America, contractors and partners doing business on behalf of PI North America, as well as all legal entities, all operating locations in all countries, and all business processes conducted by PI North America.

Information collected

What information do we collect?
PI North America collects the following personal data in line with the use purposes explained in a subsequent section:

Your name and contact details, such as physical address, email address, telephone number;
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Information on files downloaded from the PI North America website;
Registration and participation in PI North America events and activities;
Information collected by cookies;
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To engage with third parties. PI North America may share your personal data with third parties in connection with services that these individuals or entities perform for or with PI North America. These third parties are restricted from using this data in any way other than to provide services for PI North America or for the collaboration in which they and PI North America are contractually engaged (for example, hosting a PI North America database or engaging in data processing on PI North America’s behalf, or mailing you information that you requested). These third parties are carefully selected by PI North America and obligated to keep your data secure. When we share your data for these purposes this is for our legitimate interest to receive certain services which are useful to us.

To protect PI North America content and services. We may use your information to prevent potentially illegal activities and to enforce our terms and conditions. We also use a variety of technological systems to detect and address anomalous activity and to screen content to prevent abuse, such as spam. These efforts may, on occasion, result in a temporary or permanent suspension or termination of some functions for some users. Such processing of your data is for our legitimate interest to prevent our partners and our products and services from harm through any criminal actions.

To get feedback or input from you. In order to deliver products and services of most interest to our members, from time to time, we may ask members, volunteers, and website visitors to provide us input and feedback (for example through surveys, usability studies, or focus groups) which is for our legitimate interest to improve our products and services.

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If you are a registered user, you can contact PI North America to confirm the information have collected, and address related concerns.
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For how long will we retain your personal information?
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PI North America does not knowingly collect data from or about children under 16 without the permission of parent(s)/guardian(s). If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 16, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from or about a child under age 16, please contact us. How will you know if the Privacy Policy is changed?
PI North America updates its Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make any material changes we will notify you by email if you are a PI North America member, or by means of a notice on this website prior to the change becoming effective. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.

Technical and regulatory information

Logging practices
PI North America automatically records the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of visitors. The IP address is a unique number assigned to every computer on the internet. Generally, an IP address changes each time you connect to the internet (it is a “dynamic” address). Note, however, that if you have a broadband connection, depending on your individual circumstance, the IP address that we collect may contain information that could be deemed identifiable. This is because, with some broadband connections, your IP address doesn’t change (it is “static”) and could be associated with your personal computer and even dynamic IP addresses could be related to you in certain circumstances.

As well as recording the IP addresses of users, PI North America may also keep track of sites that users visited immediately prior to visiting PI North America’s website and the search terms they used to find it. We keep track of the pages visited on PI North America’s website, the amount of time spent on those pages, and the types of searches done on them. Your searches remain confidential. PI North America uses this information only for statistical purposes to find out which pages users find most useful and to improve the website.

PI North America also captures and stores information that you transmit. This includes:

Browser/Device type/version
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Media Access Control (MAC) address
Date and time of the server request
Volume of data transferred

External links behavior
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These cookies and web beacons provide useful information to PI North America, enabling us to recognize repeat users, facilitate the user’s access to and use of our site, track usage behavior, and to balance the usage of our website on all PI North America web servers.

Tracking cookies, third-party cookies, and other technologies such as web beacons may be used to process additional information, enable non-core functionalities on the PI North America website and enable third-party functions (such as an embedded video). We may also include web beacons and other similar technology in promotional email messages to determine whether the messages have been opened.

Do Not Track (DNT)
The online advertising industry has self-regulatory initiatives designed to provide consumers a choice in the types of ads they may see online and to conveniently opt-out from online behavioral ads served by some or all of the companies participating in these programs. Our website does not respond to DNT consumer browser settings. Collaboration with authorities
PI North America will investigate complaints, report data breaches and coordinate with the appropriate regulatory authorities when required. Privacy related questions, complaints or other issues can be reported via the Contact Us form. Transfer of information to other countries
As a global organization, PI North America engages in a number of international activities. In connection with the management of those activities, PI North America may transfer to, store, and process information in other countries. Such countries may have lower legal standards for protection of personal data than the country of your residence. If personal data is collected from EU residents and transferred to countries outside the EU/EEA we have implemented appropriate safeguards for these transfers to protect this data. Responses to legal requests
PI North America reserves the right to share your information to respond to duly authorized information requests of governmental authorities or where required by law.

In the event of bankruptcy, merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets, your information may be sold or transferred as part of that transaction. The promises in this privacy policy will apply to your information as transferred to the new entity.

Your European Union privacy rights
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation EU 2016/679) (also known as GDPR), if you are an individual protected by the GDPR, such as an EU resident, you have certain rights as a data subject: You have the right to request access to and rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing concerning the data subject or to object to processing as well as the right to data portability. If the processing of your personal data is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

To request information about or avail yourself of those rights, please contact us with “GDPR Request” in the subject line. In the email please describe, with specificity, the GDPR right you are requesting assistance with. Please note additional information may be requested prior to initiation of a request and that PI North America reserves the right to charge a fee with respect to certain requests. However, generally any requests are free of charge. Upon PI North America’s completion of its review you will be notified if your request has been granted, denied, or exemptions apply.

How do I contact you if there is an issue?
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or about the use of your personal information, please feel free to contact us by completing the form on the Contact Us page.

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