PRESS BRIEF: Update on FieldComm Group Technologies and Alignment with NAMUR Open Architecture and Industrie 4.0

Bad Neuenahr, Germany (8 November, 2017) – Today, at the 2017 NAMUR General Assembly Mr. Ted Masters, President and CEO, FieldComm Group and Mr. Thoralf Schulz, Chairman, FieldComm Group presented an update on FieldComm Group technologies and their alignment with NAMUR recommendations and Industrie 4.0.  Below is a summary of the press conference:

Key Highlights:

• Devices and systems using the FDI standard are in development. Device packages are undergoing conformance testing and registration at FieldComm Group. First registered FDI hosts and devices will be ready to order from our member companies in 2018. 
   
• As part of a foundation and supplier consortium, FieldComm Group will assure conformance of emerging devices that use the new 2-wire Ethernet standard in development at the IEEE 802.3 committee.  This standard enables high speed communications to field devices.
   
• FieldComm Group and the OPC Foundation have agreed to jointly create Process Automation information models using FieldComm Group’s working group processes.These information models are a key component of conformance with NAMUR open architecture, NAMUR Ethernet, and Industrie 4.0 requirements.

In-Depth:

FieldComm Group began operations in January 2015 as a new entity which combined the assets and membership of the former Fieldbus Foundation and the former HART Communication Foundation.

In June of that year ownership of the Field Device Integration (FDI) standard was transferred from a consortium of Process Automation systems suppliers to both FieldComm Group and PROFIBUS/PROFINET International.

FieldComm Group, with more than 340 global members, is the owner and driver of major process automation industry standards.

FDI Technology Update

With the assistance of many member companies and over 120 active members of the Integration Working Group, all elements of FDI that are required to bring products to market are now complete, including:

• Specifications
• Integrated Development Environment
• Host and
• Registration procedure
• Multivendor Demonstration system for Member and End User training

During the past two years FieldComm Group and PROFIBUS/PROFINET International have completed 3 plug-fests where devices from 18 suppliers, representing 6 protocols were evaluated for interoperability with 9 different FDI host platforms.

FieldComm Group’s test lab in Austin, Texas is currently testing initial device packages and expects to award registration of first devices prior to the end of 2017.  Additional device packages and hosts will be registered in 2018.

To provide users and systems with easier access to the latest registered device packages, FieldComm Group is building an online repository for device packages.  When complete, users will be able to find and download packages, and systems will be able to subscribe to automatic updates via the repository package, much like Windows PC’s are updated today.

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