PROFIBUS & PROFINET International announces market results

Karsten Schneider, Chairman of PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI), commenting on the latest node counts, says: "PROFINET stands for reliable and sustainable communication technology. That is why many industrial enterprises - both manufacturers and users - are increasingly relying on PROFINET."

The steep growth curve is set to continue. This is consistent with the forecasts of an ARC market study of trends in Ethernet-based systems, which stated that the growth of PROFINET is expected to exceed that of its competitors and the general Industrial Ethernet market. In the future, ever greater amounts of data will have to be transferred to autonomous systems, higher-level systems such as MOM (Manufacturing Operation Management), or other locations via the cloud. PROFINET is the only standard that combines the strict real-time requirements of high-performance machines with the necessary openness for IP communication.

Schneider adds: "Users are won over by the integrated overall concept. For example, the combination of PROFIsafe and PROFINET is an important deciding factor for the automotive industry. This is also reflected in the number of PROFIsafe nodes installed, which exceeded the 4 million mark this year. In 2014 alone, over 1 million new PROFIsafe nodes were installed, setting a new record. Outside of the automotive industry, PROFIsafe has been ensuring safety for the past 15 years in amusement rides, cable cars, passenger transportation, and in particular throughout the machine building sector as well as in many other applications."

Even though it has been on the market for a long time, PROFIBUS continues to report impressive market growth. At the end of 2014, nearly 51 million PROFIBUS devices were installed in industrial plants worldwide, about 3.6 million more than the previous year. This number shows that user confidence in PROFIBUS is as high as ever. PROFIBUS PA is also recording steady growth. Around 9 million PA devices are now installed in the process automation sector, around 800,000 more than in 2013. This sector will receive special attention at PI in the Achema year. Accordingly, PI is currently working closely with users to address the specific requirements of process automation in PROFINET.

Schneider concludes: "It is our international network, above all, that is responsible for the success of PI technologies. More than 1500 member companies worldwide are involved in applying their expertise to develop reliable and future-proof communication solutions. PI thus represents the world's largest and most influential interest group in the field of industrial communications."

More information about PROFINET, PROFIBUS and PROFIsafe can be obtained at the UK user group's conference in June; see www.profibusgroup.com for details.