Why have an entire section of PROFINEWS dedicated to Regional News? It matters for three reasons. First, it shows the strength of the PI organization on a global scale. Second, if you are a device vendor, it encourages you to explore other such markets with the expectation of local support. And finally, if you are an end-user, it assures that if you start operations in another country there are already experts in place.

Brazil

PI Brazil has completed workshops at Ambev (beer manufacturer) plants in Jacareí and Cervejaria Rio de Janeiro, one of the company’s largest. It is part of an agreement signed between PI Brazil and Ambev. The morning sessions consisted of technical lectures on PROFIBUS and PROFINET from engineers at various member companies. The afternoon sessions featured demonstrations and hands-on practice. Other events included taking part in the Campinas section ISA show, and conducting trainings at Produquímica and Gerdau.

China

On December 15th, 2015 PI Chairman Karsten Shneider announced at a press conference in Beijing that PROFIsafe was issued as the first functional safety China National Standard. It is a remarkable milestone for the development of functional safety in China. At the same time, local Chinese automation vendors have started to produce devices based on PROFIsafe. For example, a pressure transmitter from the Shenyang Institute of Automation was certified at the event.

Japan

The cooperation between CC-Link IE and PROFINET was announced at a press explanation event in Tokyo last month. It comes on the heels of the announcement made at SPS/IPC/Drives in Nuremberg in late November. There were many relevant questions from the press on hand. Following the press explanation, the System Control Fair 2015 took place, where the JPO (Japanese PROFIBUS Organization) hosted a popular booth.