July/August 2020

INDUSTRIAL ETHERNET increased its share of the global market for new industrial networking nodes from 59% in 2018 to 64% last year, while fieldbuses continued to decline, dropping from 35% in 2018 to 30% in 2019. The figures come from the latest annual analysis of the market by the Swedish industrial networking specialist, HMS Networks. Among the various versions of industrial Ethernet, Profinet and EtherNet/IP are joint market-leaders, each holding 17% of the market. EtherCat is next, on 7%, followed by Modbus-TCP on 5%, overtaking Ethernet Powerlink on 4%. Among the fieldbus contenders, Profibus is still in pole position with 8% of the market – but this was the first time that it had dropped below 10% of the industrial networking market. Runners-up were Modbus-RTU on 5%, followed by CC-Link on 4%. In 2019, wireless technologies accounted for 6% of the global market, withWLANs (wireless local area networks) still being the most popular technology, followed by Bluetooth. “Wireless keeps its market share of a growing market, which is not bad, but we expect the wireless share to increase over time,”says HMS’chief marketing officer, Anders Hansson.“With all ongoing activities globally about wireless cellular technologies – for example, private LTE/5G networks – as enablers for next-level smart manufacturing, market demand will increase for wirelessly connected devices and machines to be included in the less cabled and flexible automation architectures of the future”. HMS says that its position as an independent supplier of industrial communications and IIoT technologies gives it a“substantial insight”into the industrial networking market. For the first time, it has not estimated growth rates in its annual analysis, because of the Coronavirus pandemic. “We expect the industrial network market to grow steadily during the coming years but, due to the unique Coronavirus situation which is now affecting the general business conditions globally, we have chosen not to include growth numbers in our 2020 analysis – only market shares”, says Hansson. “So, only focusing on market shares this year, we see that Industrial Ethernet continues to drive industrial connectivity in factories, headed by EtherNet/IP and Profinet, with EtherCat in third place,”Hansson continues.“Profibus is still the biggest fieldbus but has lost market share as the general decline for fieldbuses continues. “Another interesting finding is that Modbus keeps doing well – both when it comes to fieldbus Modbus RTU, as well as the Ethernet-basedModbus TCP – indicating that factories do not refrain fromusing well-working technologies in their new installations just because they have been around for some time.” The HMS study is based on the company’s estimation of number of new factory automation nodes installed in 2019. The figures are based on HMS’sales figures, insights from the industry, and an “overall perception of the market”. 8 July/August 2020 www.drivesncontrols.com p The government has launched two competitions to help British businesses develop digital technologies to improve manufacturing supply chain productivity and resilience, thus boosting the recovery from Covid-19. Business-led consortia will be able to apply for up to £1.5m of funding for projects to transform supply chains, and to help make the UK’s manufacturing sector more efficient, flexible and resilient. The competitions – one for feasibility studies, the other for industrial research – have been launched by Made Smarter and UK Research and Innovation . The aim is to promote innovative digital approaches that rethink and restructure the way businesses design and operate supply chains. The projects can range in size from £250,000 to £3m and the deadline for applications is 7 October. https://drivesncontrols.news/hef7v p 100,000 Siemens employees at 600 locations in 30 countries are getting access to an app that combines location, usage and smart building data with their personal requirements to ensure that they can return safely to work. The app, developed by Siemens’ Comfy subsidiary, is being deployed in two phases. In the first, a simpler version will provide information about each employee’s office location, including general and location-specific Covid- 19 updates and health regulations. In the second phase, features for future smart offices will be added. The app will give the employees information about their office to help them make informed decisions about how and when they can return safely to work. It will allow occupancy limits to be defined, ensuring that the offices comply with local return-to-work regulations on physical distancing. p The PPMA packaging and processing exhibition has been postponed for a year until September 2021. The exhibition, which had been due to take place at the Birmingham NEC from 29 September to 1 October, will now take place from 28-30 September, 2021, at the same venue. PPMA Show 2020 was on course to be one of the largest in 32 years, with more than three quarters of its exhibition space sold seven months before the lockdown started in March. Meanwhile, the 2021 Southern Manufacturing & Electronics show is being delayed from February until 20- 21 April, to avoid conflicts with other events. It will be held in Farnborough as usual. www.ppmashow.co.uk www.industrysouth.co.uk n NEWS COVID-19 BRIEFS Jon Howard is the new managing director of the UK subsidiary of the Israeli firm, Elmo Motion Control. Howard previously spent around 20 years at Heason Technology, as engineering director, general manager and, for his final six years there, as managing director. Most recently, he was head of research and development at Mark Roberts Motion Control. Chris Price has been appointed managing director of the UK subsidiary of the German AGV (automated guided vehicles) specialist, E&K Automation. Price has more than 20 years of experience in the transport and intralogistics industry. He will be supported by Mike Burke, who has been with E&K for 34 years, and MD for the past eight. Burke will stay on as operations director. Dr Clive Hickman , chief executive of the Manufacturing Technology Centre, has been chosen to head a new body aimed at leading the resurgence of manufacturing in the Midlands. The Midlands Manufacturing Resilience Commission (M2R) will review the region’s manufacturing landscape post-Covid, help to create a wider Midlands manufacturing strategy and develop recommendations to help build the region’s manufacturing resilience. Mary Grigsby has been appointed head of TÜV SÜD’s UK Product Service division. Grigsby joined the product testing and certification organisation 31 years ago, as a graduate. She has held various technical and managerial roles, most recently as director of test operations. Industrial Ethernet technologies (shown in purple) accounted for almost two thirds of all new industrial networking nodes sold last year. Fieldbus technologies (blue) represented 30% of the market, with the remaining 6% held by wireless technologies (red). Source: HMS Networks Industrial Ethernet powers ahead, while fieldbuses slide

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ0NzM=