Articles and News

Softing's PROFINET device implementation has passed the Class III category of the "Net Load Test" performed by PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI).

The OPC Data-UA toolkit was certified by the OPC Foundation for OPC UA client development.

By Bill Lydon, Editor With this acquisition, Schneider Electric significantly enhanced its position to serve the process industries and now has a complete portfolio of products to serve the entire industrial and process automation industry. This article highlights a few key aspects of the integration of the two companies.

As an ISA Promotional Partner, the FDT Group will provide the ISA community access to device maintenance and management strategies through a range of ISA media and direct marketing opportunities.

Sercos International will exhibit at 20 events this year, provide training, and conduct webinars.

PROFINEWS App lets users receive up-to-date information about PI and its technologies directly on their devices anytime, anywhere in the world.

Matrikon, an OPC Foundation Charter Member, has produced a 30-minute online multimedia tutorial to explain the basics and vision of OPC and how to begin integrating it into new and current systems.

Sercos is making recordings of webinars on the topic of “CIP Safety on Sercos & EtherNet/IP” and “Common Sercos III and EtherNet/IP Infrastructure” available free and on-demand.

To best meet the rising demand for official EtherCAT Conformance Tests, the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) has expanded the EtherCAT testing services.

At the SPS IPC Drives show in Nuremberg, Sercos International displayed twelve demo points from different manufacturing companies as well as exhibits from more than twenty companies.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Four North American members presented why they support PI standards and are members of the board. User presentations further highlighted that existing plants have many types of networks that can benefit from efficient gateways and proxies to further enhance automation with new controls and instruments.

By Bill Lydon, Editor I recently had the opportunity to discuss Ocean Data Systems – a little company you likely have never heard of - with Roy Kok, their VP of Sales and Marketing. Their product, Dream Report, is OEMed by a number of well-known software providers. Here is a synopsis of my interview with Kok.

It has now been 10 years since the organization first began its activities at the 2003 SPS IPC Drives show with 33 official founding members.

Festo Corporation of Hauppauge, New York joined Sercos N.A., the North American promotional alliance for the Sercos interface, as an associate member.

The test tool offers the possibility to automatically test the full CIP Safety on Sercos protocol functionality of a device in order to prove the compliance with The CIP Safety specification.

With CIP Safety, users will be able to deploy networked motion control systems using EtherNet/IP and Sercos III in applications requiring safe motion functions.

The MTConnect Institute and the OPC Foundation announce the MTConnect-OPC UA (Unified Architecture) Companion specification.

As cyberattacks and threats to network security continue to rise, so does the need for securing industrial control systems for water and wastewater systems.

Founded in 2004, Ocean Data Systems (ODS) develops software solutions for industrial analytics and reporting.

By Bill Lydon, Editor While industrial Ethernet is being adopted at a high rate, the majority of connected nodes (73%) are still traditional networks like DeviceNet, PROFIBUS, Modbus, SERCOS, Foundation Fieldbus, ASi, and others. In order to gain a clearer understanding of the trends, I spoke with Tom Moore, Research Analyst at IHS's Electronics and Media Group.