With three years of survey data now in hand, a clearer picture of Ethernet and wireless use in industrial facilities is beginning to develop beyond the anecdotal instances we all hear about in various case study reviews. Critical to the creation of this picture are the responses from more than 2,500 industry professionals who have provided their insights since 2012 to the joint Automation World/Moxa “Ethernet and Wireless in the Plant” survey. These professionals work in industries such as chemicals, food and beverage, life sciences, oil and gas, automotive, electronics, machinery OEMs, and fabricated metals.
The graphics here highlight this year’s responses in several key categories, while the accompanying text explains how responses have changed over the past three years of survey data—or remained static. In both cases, the data paint a picture of clearly changing attitudes around industrial networking technology preferences.
Survey methodology
To gather responses for this Automation World survey, conducted in partnership with Moxa, three email invitations were sent to Automation World’s subscriber list in October 2014. Respondents who identified themselves as working for automation suppliers were filtered out of the results, resulting in a net total of 644 end user readers completing the survey.
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