Profibus nodes surpass 10 million

Profibus International, representing more than 1200 member companies worldwide, has announced that at the end of 2003 Profibus devices installed in factory and process automation applications had surpassed an historic 10 million benchmark - a total substantially higher than any other fieldbus solution.

Citing this benchmark, Profibus International Chairman, Edgar Kuester stated, "It's a remarkable achievement that's due mainly to the technical excellence of Profibus, which can meet a very wide range of needs across the automation spectrum." Kuester paid tribute to the support and innovation of the organisation's member companies who make up the largest fieldbus community in the world, and alluded to examples of how Profibus is now driving fieldbus developments, as an example, new performance standards in networked Machine Safety using PROFIsafe technology.

"By all accounts, the contribution made by Profibus to both process and discrete manufacturing is momentous, dwarfing those made by competitive technologies," said Kuester. "Furthermore, the market's enthusiasm for Profibus shows no sign of decreasing and we believe that we will double the number of installed devices to 20 million by 2008. This offers significant opportunities for member companies."