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CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) celebrates 10 years in the U.S

02/16/2012

VERNON HILLS, Ill.— The CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) will celebrate its 10th anniversary in the United States on March 14 at the J.W. Marriott Resort & Spa, Las Vegas, with a half-day program that features recent technology advancements and application successes. The first announcement of CLPA's Gateway-to-China, an initiative for providing support services to automation exporters, will also be made.

CC-Link, an open industrial communication network for integrating manufacturing and process automation systems, is the number one networking standard in Asia and one of the top industrial communications networks in the world, with nearly 9 million installed nodes. CC-Link has seen steady adoption in the United States as companies here recognize the operational and cost advantages of applying CC-Link networks, while others have taken advantage of Asian export opportunities.

The event on March 14 will highlight CC-Link applications at a North American automotive plant, an Asian flat panel display manufacturing operation designed in North America, a North American packaging machine OEM that standardized on CC-Link IE (Industrial Ethernet), and an overview of the massive Long Island Railroad tunnel project in New York City connecting Long Island, Manhattan, and Queens, where CC-Link provided the communication backbone for tunnel-boring conveyor systems and associated equipment.

In addition to providing details about the Gateway-to-China program, which will use CC-Link's strong presence in the region to support and enable greater North American participation in the expanding Chinese industrial automation market, speakers will discuss the new safety and motion capabilities of CC-Link IE Field, the world's first gigabit-speed Industrial Ethernet network. Representatives from Cognex will discuss the integration of vision systems with CC-Link and CC-Link IE Field networks. Representatives from Industrial Control Communications will describe strategies for connecting Ethernet devices to the CC-Link IE Field network, and presentations by HMS Industrial Networks and Hilscher will provide overviews for effective development of CC-Link and CC-Link IE field- compatible devices.

The following companies will display their CC-Link and CC-Link IE field-compatible devices: 3M Company, Balluff Inc., Belden Inc., Cognex Corp., Festo Corp., Frontline Test Equipment Inc., Hilscher Inc., HMS Industrial Networks Inc., Industrial Control Communications Inc., Molex and SMC Corp.

For information on attending the CLPA 10th U.S. Anniversary event on March 14 in Las Vegas, contact Charles Lukasik, Director of CLPA-Americas, at 847-478-2341 or email info@cclinkamerica.org. Visit www.cclinkamerica.org to learn more about CLPA and CC-Link and CC-Link IE (Industrial Ethernet).