Despite abundant resistance from engineers across industry in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Ethernet has since clearly become the industrial network of choice. This transition may have been lead by the fact that keeping production operations totally isolated is no longer a viable choice in an extremely connected world. But the trend toward Ethernet has been maintained by the fact that Ethernet is an exceedingly viable and reliable network.
A recent survey conducted by Automation World showed that 41 percent of respondents have been using Ethernet on the plant floor for years and are experimenting with additional applications for it, while 22 percent said they have connected nearly everything possible on their plant floor to Ethernet.
Now comes news from the Profi Interface Center (PIC) in Johnson City, Tenn., that in 2012 the PIC certified twice as many Profinet engineers as it did Profibus DP/PA engineers.
The PIC was established in 1996 to allow easy and direct access to Profibus and Profinet technology. The PIC team provides seminars, integration support and device conformance testing for Profinet and Profibus. The PIC is part of a global network of competence centers, training centers and test labs established by PI, the umbrella organization responsible for Profibus and Profinet worldwide.
Training Center Manager Torsten Paulsen said, “During the past 17 years we have successfully certified 887 network engineers … and we’re expecting to certify our 1000th graduate within the next 12 months.”
Certified Network Engineer status for Profinet and Profibus is awarded to candidates who successfully complete written and practical tests held at the end of a 5-day training course.
Commenting on new equipment recently installed at PIC in response to increasing interest in the training and certifications it offers, Paulsen said, “Our new equipment includes updated systems and racks supplied by a variety of vendors having common feature sets, including devices from Siemens, GE Intelligent Platforms, Phoenix Contact, Hilscher and Turck. We’ve also added new hands-on exercises for popular Profinet features such as I-Device and Shared Devices.
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