With the completion of its goals, the FDI organization is dissolving. But the technology is just beginning its solving of user and vendor requirements. In process automation FDI presents a harmonization of FDT/DTM and EDDL. These two disparate approaches now resolve to a single solution.

FDI was developed by major industrial automation foundations, including PI, and major automation vendors with input from user organizations. FDI is designed to cover the entire lifecycle of process devices including configuration, commissioning, diagnosis, and calibration. (more…)

This white paper reports – oriented to the timeline of the technology development – which functions and capabilities of PROFINET are currently meeting the demands of process automation and which can be implemented and then used in products in the future based on specifications that are complete or in progress. (more…)

The Who’s Who of the process industry came together at ACHEMA 2015. Numerous innovations could be seen and all participants engaged in lively exchange with scores of customers and interested parties. PROFIBUS and PROFINET International aroused the interest of many visitors with publication of its White Paper “PROFINET – The solution platform for process automation.”

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Already today machine builders are forced to construct new machines for the worldwide market which can produce things flexibly, adapted to customer demands.

PROFINET supports them with built-in TCP/IP communication, which is independent from special hardware or software modules in the devices or controllers. So communication between the overlaid production line control and the non-PROFINET devices is easily possible. (more…)

It has been a busy month for PI.  Phil Marshall of Hilscher has joined the PI North America Board of Directors.  There was the annual international PI meeting in Ireland.  Catching the Process Fieldbus free eBook has been downloaded over 500 times since it was announced in last month’s PROFINEWS.  There is a new video with PROFINET user Audi complimenting PI.  And social media rolls on.

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