Foundation leads on fieldbus
25 Mar 2008
Foundation Fieldbus (FF) has a 68% share of the market for intelligent networks in the process industries, with over a million devices in service worldwide.
Antwerp, Belgium - Foundation Fieldbus (FF) has a 68% share of the market for intelligent networks in the process industries, with over a million devices in service worldwide.
This was the message from Rich Timoney, Fieldbus Foundation president and CEO, to the 230 delegates attending the company's 2008 general assembly in Antwerp last month.
Asked to explain the market breakdown, Timoney said it was 44% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), 27% in the Americas and 24% in Asia Pacific. Significant growth in EMEA has been boosted by big projects in the Middle East, and there has been major success in India, Brazil and China.
The pharmaceutical industry is proving to be a significant user of FF systems.
Novartis has adopted the FF technology in both Singapore and mainland Europe following experience at several major factories in Ireland. And 22 plants in San Juan, Puerto Rico, including those of SmithKline Beecham, Amjet and Genzyme, are using FF.
Keynote speaker at the assembly was Dr Norbert Kuschnerus, senior vice president of Bayer Technology Services. He said fieldbus technology was still in its relative infancy and needed to improve, citing the need, in particular, for "devices to offer vendor-independent functionality".
One of the moves that should progress the technology is this year's planned co-operation between Foundation, HART and Profibus to develop a common interface to a wireless gateway. Also, there will be testing to FF standards to strengthen fieldbus interoperability and system integration.
This was the message from Rich Timoney, Fieldbus Foundation president and CEO, to the 230 delegates attending the company's 2008 general assembly in Antwerp last month.
Asked to explain the market breakdown, Timoney said it was 44% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), 27% in the Americas and 24% in Asia Pacific. Significant growth in EMEA has been boosted by big projects in the Middle East, and there has been major success in India, Brazil and China.
The pharmaceutical industry is proving to be a significant user of FF systems.
Novartis has adopted the FF technology in both Singapore and mainland Europe following experience at several major factories in Ireland. And 22 plants in San Juan, Puerto Rico, including those of SmithKline Beecham, Amjet and Genzyme, are using FF.
Keynote speaker at the assembly was Dr Norbert Kuschnerus, senior vice president of Bayer Technology Services. He said fieldbus technology was still in its relative infancy and needed to improve, citing the need, in particular, for "devices to offer vendor-independent functionality".
One of the moves that should progress the technology is this year's planned co-operation between Foundation, HART and Profibus to develop a common interface to a wireless gateway. Also, there will be testing to FF standards to strengthen fieldbus interoperability and system integration.
