FieldComm Group held its 2018 General Assembly on December 3-7 in Singapore. The event focused on the digital future of industrial automation and included the organization’s annual member meeting, several days of working group meetings, and an end user seminar.
The General Assembly, an important gathering of automation industry professionals, was attended by both FieldComm Group members and non-members. The meeting was open to FOUNDATION Fieldbus, HART, WirelessHART and FDI suppliers, end-users and other participants from around the world.
The End User Seminar on Friday, Dec. 7, offered an overview of progress in digital transformation throughout the industrial automation marketplace. This included updates by leading experts on the latest technology advancements, as well as presentations by major end-users who have installed FOUNDATION fieldbus, HART and WirelessHART-based solutions in their plant operations. The end user seminar concluded with a panel discussion with the experts followed by a networking reception and product showcase.
Technical Working Group meetings provided an opportunity for marketing and technical professionals to collaborate and contribute to the strategic direction to FieldComm Group.
FieldComm Group President and CEO Ted Masters addressed the General Assembly and described his organization’s ongoing standards and technology development work. This includes release of the first Unified Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) Technical Specifications; an updated H1 Interoperability Test Kit (ITK) to reinforce support for Standardized Connection Points (SCP); and a new Product Registry and online Repository merging the previous HART and FOUNDATION Fieldbus registries, and allowing users to find Electronic Device Description (EDD) and FDI Device Package files for all registered products.
Masters thanked industrial automation stakeholders for attending the General Assembly and learning about the emerging trends in digital transformation. “FieldComm Group technologies play an important role in the advancement of key initiatives such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0. By continuing to build on our protocols, bridging them to the IIoT and ensuring they conform to industry standards, we can seize upon today’s data revolution to achieve improved operations and enterprises,” Masters said. “Field devices are delivering data through robust protocols trusted by end-users to meet their performance, interoperability and security needs. In fact, it has become increasingly clear that the IIoT will require many protocols.
For more information, please visit the FieldComm Group website.
