The 29th joint annual meeting for PI Chairman, PI Competence Centers (PICCs), PI Training Centers (PITCs), and PI Test Labs (PITLs) was successfully convened by PROFIBUS & PROFINET China (“PI China”) on June 19-23 in Beijing, China. 58 representatives were present at the annual meeting, including PI Chairman and Deputy Chairman, Regional PI Association Chairmen, and responsible persons and experts from various PICCs, PITCs, and PITLs around the globe. PI-China Chairman, Executive Vice Chairman, Directors of the Council, Secretary-General, and Commissioner to the Secretariat also attended the event.
This joint meeting consisted of three phases.
Phase 1, Chairmen Meeting, June 19-21
26 RPA chairmen and representatives from around the world attended this session, which was presided over by PI 
Chairman Karsten Schneider. At this session, Mr. Ouyang Jinsong, PI-China Chairman, addressed the meeting on behalf of PI China and the Secretariat organization (Instrumentation Technology and Economy Institute). Then, Mr. Wang Haibin, Executive Vice Chairman of PI-China, with Siemens (China) Co., Ltd., introduced the organizational structure of PI China and the major undertakings of the Secretariat and the working groups. Mr. Schneider summed up achievements of the topics discussed at the previous PI Chairmen Meeting (the 28th). The PI Secretariat presented the work summary for 2016 and the ongoing works through
2017 (including the new PI website, regional URLs, etc.); RPA Chairmen from Norway and Korea introduced works in their regions, respectively. Mr. Schneider also reported on the new technologies PI is pursuing against the demands of Industrie 4.0 and on the progress of other innovative technologies, including TSN, APL, PROFINET in PA, and IO-Link. Finally, Dr. Liu Dan, Secretary-General of PI China, made a keynote speech, upon invitation, on Made in China 2025 as well as intelligent manufacturing projects that have been launched in China and their progress.
Phase 2, PICC/PITC/PITL Meetings, June 21-22
PICC Meeting
The PICC Meeting is an annual technical seminar that enables all Competence Center personnel to keep pace with cutting edge technology and informs them about the latest technological progress at PI. This year’s session was attended by 50 PICC representatives from all over the world. The meeting was presided over by Professor Frithjof Klasen, Chairman of PICC. The technical reports discussed during the event cover the following aspects: PROFINET & Industrie 4.0/IIoT, TSN, application cases from PROFIBUS to PROFINET, large-scale PROFINET network project and acceptance, streamlined PROFINET troubleshooting, electromagnetics, capacitance and equipotential bonding, OPC UA technology, etc.
In addition, 7 PROFINET & PROFIBUS Competence Centers have been established in China, including Siemens (Beijing), Phoenix Contact (China), Beijing DS, ABB (China), Siemens (Chengdu), Procentec (China) and the Instrumentation Technology and Economy Institute(ITEI). Dr. Liu Dan presented to the meeting the featured technical services these Competence Centers are offering in China, including promotion of third-party development by PROFINET, development consultancy and pre-testing, training on development and diagnostics technology, field diagnostics service, PROFINET Maker Angel Fund, etc.
PITC Meeting
The meeting was joined by 48 PITC representatives, which was hosted by Mr. Peter Thomas. This year’s PITC Meeting covers the following aspects: training on new PROFINET certified engineer/structure of learning material, training on PROFINET certified installation engineer/updated learning material, development plan for the central problem database for PROFINET certification and training courses, development suggestions for the training course on PROFINET certified system designer, etc.
PITL Meeting
The meeting was attended by 21 PITL representatives and was hosted by Mr. Christian Diedrich. This PITC Meeting discussed these aspects: meeting minutes of the previous PITL Meeting and member issues, key amendments to two help documents “How to Perform Product Certification” and “Authentication Test Framework,” major undertakings by working group, update on PROFINET testing tools, etc.
Phase 3, PROFINET Test System Training, June 23
To help manufacturers identify problems on an earlier basis at the development stage, PI provides all members with a free PROFINET test system, which means the test system downloadable from the PI website (www.profinet.com) is exactly the same as that used in any PITL. This training is the first ever training oriented toward PROFINET manufacturer, solution provider, PICC, and PITL, as organized by PI concerning operating procedures of the PROFINET test system. PICC technicians and suppliers of PROFINET development solutions had been especially invited to this event. The training was given by Professor Hans-Peter Schmidt from OTH Amberg-Weiden, a higher learning institution, and his assistant Alexander Gercikow, and was attended by 21 students. The training focuses on the ART by PROFINET, which includes ART authentication test cases, ART software architecture, realization of user test cases, future features, etc. Operation test was also performed on site.
PI Chairmen Meeting and PICC/PITC/PITL Meeting are both annual meetings. It is customary for PI that an annual meeting is requested and sponsored by turns by all regional RPAs on a global scale. This was the second time that the meeting has been held in China following the previous one which was sponsored ten years ago. This year’s event was sponsored by PI China. The meeting received vigorous support from ITEI and PI, and was also based on the positive teamwork by the Council members of PI China and member organizations. The meeting achieved fruitful results as expected.
