FieldComm Group held its first-ever North American Members Meeting on April 24-25 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Austin, Texas. The gathering provided an opportunity for marketing and technical personnel of member companies to learn about relevant technology initiatives, market preparedness strategies, and upcoming trends and deliverables.
Member Meeting attendees gained valuable insights into the automation industry direction and outlook from recognized experts. In particular, they were able to learn how the Field Device Integration (FDI) and the OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) standards support enterprise-wide analytics for better business decisions. The meeting also included an announcement of a new FDI Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to replace protocol-specific tools, and an unveiling of the technology roadmap for advancements in HART and FOUNDATION Fieldbus. Additionally, participants received an update on the emerging Advanced Physical Layer (APL) and Process Automation Device Information Model (PA-DIM).
The following presentations were given at the members meeting:
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Ted Masters, President and CEO, FieldComm Group, provided an overview of the organization and its current status.
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Larry O’Brien, Vice President/Research, ARC Advisory Group, delivered a keynote address on the latest developments in the area of industrial automation.
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Keith Larson, Group Publisher/Vice President of Content, Putman Media, discussed the impact of digital transformation on automation end users.
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Achim Laubenstein, Director of FDI Technology, FieldComm Group, offered an update on adoption of the FDI standard.
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Sean Vincent, Director of Tech Services, FieldComm Group, covered current activities surrounding HART, FOUNDATION Fieldbus and Ethernet APL.
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Tom Burke, President & Executive Director, OPC Foundation, described how OPC UA works with FDI as part of the industrial enterprise.
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Heather Whilden, Quality Assurance Manager, FieldComm Group, outlined the HART and FOUNDATION fieldbus device registration processes, and best practices for successful completion.
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Paul Sereiko, Director of Marketing, FieldComm Group, described the timeline for transitioning tool sets from Electronic Device Description (EDD)-only to EDD- and FDI-capable tools. He also explained methods for bringing HART data into the cloud using standards-based solutions.
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Wally Pratt, Director of HART Technology, FieldComm Group, examined HART IP and the new GitHub development project.
For more information, please visit the FieldComm Group website.
