IO-Link China Community Officially Established
On September 10, 2019, the IO-Link China Community Inaugural Meeting and IO-Link Technology Seminar was held in Shanghai. More than 20 IO-Link China Community members including Balluff, Pepperl+Fuchs, IFM, Onsoon, Hilscher, Phoenix Contact, Turck, PATLITE, etc. all attended the show and presented their IO-Link solutions and products. The conference also attracted more than 100 guests from locally and abroad.
At the meeting, the founding members of the IO-Link International Community, Mr. Peter Wienzek from IFM and Ms. Sonja Armbruster from the Pepperl+Fuchs Group jointly announced that the regional IO-Link Community was formally established in China and integrated with the instrument industry. ITEI issued an authorization certificate for the IO-Link China Community. Peter Wienzek said that the establishment of the IO-Link China Community is a milestone for both the IO-Link International Community and China. In the future, we will work together with Chinese manufacturing companies to build IO-Link technology into the “USB for the automation industry.”
Li Yumin, deputy chief engineer of ITEI, said that the future IO-Link China Community will give full play to the bridge between manufacturers and end-users, and do an excellent job in the industry service of IO-Link technology in China. In the technical exchange stage, experts from Balluff, Pepperl+Fuchs, Phoenix Contact, IFM, Hexun, and Onsoon made a detailed introduction on IO-Link technical advantages, project planning, typical applications, product development, etc. The establishment of the IO-Link China Community and this technical seminar will open a new chapter in promoting IO-Link technology innovation and industrial development, and a look forward to the future possibilities of IO-Link technology creation!
IO-Link at China International Industry Fair (CIIF)
On September 17, 2019, the IO-Link China Community exhibited at the CIIF in Shanghai. At the exhibition site, more than 60 kinds of IO-Link master stations and slave stations from IO-Link China Community members formed a 2m IO-Link product display wall, attracting many visitors to stop. Here we can not only see the IO link master stations with IP67 and IP20 protection levels but also find a variety of sensor devices, valve islands, indicator lights, PDCT software, and other IO-Link devices. For equipment manufacturers, solutions such as master station protocol board cards and IO-Link sensor chips could also be found to support the development of IO-Link master stations, greatly increasing the confidence of equipment manufacturers in developing IO-Link equipment.
One of the highlights of this IO-Link joint exhibition stand was that Hefei ONSOON Intelligent Electronic Co., Ltd., a member of IO-Link China Community, officially released the first domestic version of the IODD file generator independently developed by itself. Equipment manufacturers can use the software free of charge, downloadable HERE. The release of this software will help domestic equipment manufacturers to generate IODD files easily and quickly.
PI Southern Africa to Exhibit at Electra Mining Africa 2020
PI Southern Africa is pleased to announce that it will be exhibiting at the Electra Mining Africa Show in September 2020 for the first time. The RPA will also sponsor the Seminar Theatre in the Automation Hall and provide three training sessions during this time.
“This decision was made based on the outcome of recent discussions on how to drive and promote the local organization in the industry in South Africa. The show is one of the biggest offered, and it was determined that the RPA will really be visible in becoming involved. During this time, we’ll be offering some insight and training and also promote our current members in the space provided,” Henry Heymans, current Chairperson of the organization, said.
Ranked as one of the world’s largest mining shows and the biggest mining, manufacturing, automation, electrical, and power trade show in southern Africa, Electra Mining Africa has a proven track record for driving sales, sales leads, and building brand awareness.
PITC UK: “Happy Retirement and Thank You!”
Andy Verwer, a long-time member and founder of UK-based PITC Verwer Training & Consultancy, recently announced his retirement after more than 20 years of delivering PROFIBUS and PROFINET training in the UK and many other parts of the world. Andy, a highly respected trainer and originator of several of the PI range of certified training courses, will be much missed.
In appreciation of his many years of dedicated support for the organization, at its October management meeting, the Steering Committee of PI UK voted unanimously to award Andy the honor of Life Membership of PI UK for as long as he wishes. In addition, the Group gave Andy and his wife Pat a specially commissioned engraved set of Swarovski crystal wine glasses and carafe, wishing them both many enjoyable years of retirement.
The picture shows Andy and Pat with their gift, which bears the inscription:
“To Andy, in appreciation of many years of dedicated support for PI UK.
Wishing you and Pat many enjoyable years of retirement.
Thank You!
Your friends in The Committee”
New Workshop Concept is Successful in Italy
On 30 October 2019, an IO-Link user workshop took place in Bologna. The new workshop concept was also successfully implemented in Italy and was able to convince around 110 visitors. With the new concept, participants can decide for themselves what technical depth they want. Also, they may choose between two parallel sessions right from the beginning. The lively interest in the Microfair stands of the 22 exhibiting companies reflected the great interest in the IO-Link technology in Italy. Conclusion: A successful event in a very nice ambiance at the Savoy Regency Hotel in Bologna!
Karsten Schneider Attends the 83rd IEC General Meeting China Special Event
On October 23, 2019, the International Seminar on Industrial Cyber Security and Functional Safety hosted by SAC/TC124 was held in Shanghai, attracting more than 90 industrial safety authorities from government, universities, research institutions, third-party testing and certification institutions, and enterprises to attend. A fruitful technical achievement has been achieved through technical discussion.
Mr. Karsten Schneider, Chairman of PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI) was invited to participate in this forum and make a presentation on the “Safety and Security of PI.” He said that the mission of PI is to integrate different levels of data, to use effective data to generate more value and help users improve quality and efficiency. With the proposal and implementation of the vision of “Industry 4.0” and the national plan of “Made in China 2025”, a large number of enterprises and related organizations are vigorously promoting the development of digital enterprises and integrating digitalization into factories and enterprises. The core of digital enterprise construction is the integration and collaboration of automation and information technology. PROFINET is the backbone of every automation control system. In the future, more consistent communication across network zones will be necessary, and this will increase security risks. Integrated Security Extensions for PROFINET will enhance the existing cell protection concept. Security Extensions will allow protecting PROFINET communication in consideration of technical and organizational constraints in automation use cases.
At the same time, to help customers make full use of PROFINET, and to address the security threats in industrial control systems, PI released the white paper for PROFINET “Security Extensions for PROFINET.” This white paper will help users develop and improve industrial cybersecurity solutions for PROFINET technology and network architectures to ensure high stability, high availability, and efficient automation systems.
PI Experts at the Qingdao International Standardization Forum
On October 28, 2019, the high-profile 2019 Qingdao International Standardization Forum kicked off at the Shangri-La Hotel. The theme of the forum was “International Standards and the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” which lasted for three days. Three international standards organizations, including the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and theInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU) participated. Domestically, the China State Administration for Market Regulation (China Standardization Administration), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Chinese Academy of Engineering and other relevant ministries, and other well-known enterprises, institutes and universities all attended. There were more than 730 representatives, including 60 foreign guests and more than 10 members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Dr.Peter Wenzel, from PI, was invited to attend and make a report on “PROFINET & Industrie 4.0 – State of the Art and Outlook.” He introduced some of the achievements PI has made in addressing the challenges of Industry 4.0, including the combination of PROFINET and OPC UA, PROFINET architecture based on TSN technology, unified data semantic description, standardized information models, data security, PROFINET in process automation, and Ethernet APL (Advanced Physical Layer). He commented that due to the new requirements from Industry 4.0 and IT technology, more and more influences have been exerted on the field of OT networks. 30 years ago, PI was a purely PROFIBUS user organization, but now we are continuously developing towards such a standardized information technology organization.