Jeff Besola is a member of the PI North America Board of Directors since 2017.
Here he shares some perspective on the state of technology for process instrument manufacturers.
The Reality, for Field Device Designers
You can find a whole plethora of articles on the Web that predict “The Future of Automation,” and they are, in general, all very good and plausible. However, vendors of industrial devices are faced with requirements and customer demands that are based in the “today.”
To make matters even more interesting, the tendency for end-users to pick and choose industrial devices that fit their needs best, regardless of the device manufacturer, has increased. Device vendors need to adjust to this selective pressure, and one answer is to offer flexibility in supporting different communication protocols.
The most cost-effective approach to achieve this flexibility is to partner with a company that specializes in industrial communications. Using off-the-shelf solutions or OEM components for communications will significantly reduce time-to-market, increase overall competitiveness, and allow for focusing on what a company does best – design smart field devices.
For example, take advantage of communication modules that support simple protocols like HART or Modbus on the device side and IEC 61158-2 requirements on the fieldbus side. Or re-design your hardware once to include FPGA technology and then simply flash any industrial Ethernet protocol as an IP-core into your device.
Softing can help with your field device communications so you can focus on your smart field devices and be ready for today and the future.
Learn more here, and thank you for reading.
Jeff Besola