ODVA's Conference focused on productivity in manufacturing.
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Press Release Summary:
Held on Feb 24, 25, and 26, ODVA's 2009 CIP Networks Conference and Annual Meeting of Members brought attendees from more than 50 companies and 12 countries to discuss latest techniques and innovations in manufacturing networking technologies. Event included 16 working meetings of ODVA members; technical track consisting of 18 papers on technologies and innovation related to ODVA technologies; training classes; an enabling technologies pavilion; and general session with keynote speakers.
Original Press Release:
Productivity in Manufacturing is Focus of ODVA'S 2009 CIP Networks Conference and 13th Annual Meeting of Members
Keynote speakers highlight importance of innovation in manufacturing processes, use of ODVA technologies for global competitiveness
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA - March 17, 2009 - ODVA held its 2009 CIP Networks Conference and Annual Meeting of Members on February 24, 25 and 26 in Howey-in-the Hills, Florida, USA. This major industry event brought attendees from more than 50 companies and a dozen countries to discuss the latest techniques and innovations in manufacturing networking technologies. The event included 16 working meetings of ODVA members; a technical track consisting of 18 papers on technologies and innovation related to ODVA technologies; training classes; an enabling technologies pavilion; and a general session with keynote speakers.
ODVA technologies include EtherNet/IP(TM), which has been broadly adopted by many as their industrial Ethernet network of choice for integration of the plant floor with the enterprise. Jeff Smith, a twenty year veteran of the automation industry and currently Senior Controls Engineer with end user American Axle & Manufacturing, presented "Industrial Ethernet for the Global Enterprise," in which he described various use cases for ODVA's EtherNet/IP - including technical evaluation, deployment and results. These use cases included a range of applications installed under his watch at American Axle operating locations around the world, including in Brazil, China, India, Mexico and the United States. Smith presented an overview of this user's highly satisfactory experience with EtherNet/IP, including shorter than anticipated start-up times, an unusually high level of multi-vendor interoperability and minimal issues in production.
"We have found no issues with CIP-related functionality between the devices on the line. Having an organization like ODVA that requires conformance testing of its devices removes a large weight off our shoulders as end users and gives us the consistency we require, which has been invaluable in reducing risk and improving our return on investment," Smith stated. "I expect many more vendors and end users to move onto EtherNet/IP."
Anticipating its members' concerns on the state of the global economy and manufacturing, ODVA's Annual Meeting of Members provided keynote speakers who discussed current economic realities and how to prepare for tomorrow's challenges. Ouyang Jinsong, Vice President of the Instrument Technology and Economy Institute (ITEI) in Beijing, China, discussed how ODVA members' investments within China can benefit ODVA member companies and the global manufacturing community. Cliff Waldman, Global Economist for the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, provided MAPI's view of the global economic outlook for manufacturers and outlined its recent research on the links between innovation policy, spending, and subsequent innovation in the business economy. "The drivers of innovation extend well beyond business R&D spending," stated Waldman. "Capital investment, basic university research, and science employment all matter."
The three-day event was packed with technical and training sessions for new vendors and end users. ODVA presented the first in a new series of seminars, titled "Extending to CIP Safety(TM)," to aid new vendors with beginning their development of CIP Safety(TM) products, and ODVA members presented technical papers on a wide range of topics such as introductions to message prioritization, device redundancy, and fault recovery; the use of tools such as FDT's Device Tool Manager to configure CIP Networks; the latest on implementations of CompoNet(TM) and CIP Motion(TM); device interoperability recommendations; physical media and power; and the application of wireless to CIP Networks.
To view the presentations given at ODVA's 2009 CIP Networks Conference and 13th Annual Meeting, please visit the CIP Networks Conference & Annual Meeting web page on www.odva.org under "About ODVA - > Get Involved."
About ODVA
ODVA, Inc. is an international association comprising members from the world's leading automation companies. Collectively, ODVA and its members support network technologies based on the Common Industrial Protocol (CIP(TM)). These currently include DeviceNet(TM), EtherNet/IP(TM), CompoNet(TM), and ControlNet(TM), along with the major extensions to CIP - CIP Safety(TM) and CIP Motion(TM). ODVA manages the development of these open technologies, and assists manufacturers and users of CIP Networks through its activities in standards development, certification, vendor education and industry awareness. As part of its certification activities, ODVA offers conformance testing to help ensure that products built to its specifications operate in multi-vendor systems. For more information, visit its web site at www.odva.org.
For more information, contact:
Adrienne Meyer
Manager, Marketing Communications
ODVA, Inc.
Headquarters Offices: 4220 Varsity Drive, Suite A, Ann Arbor, MI 48108-5006 USA
tel +1 734 975 8840; fax +1 734 922 0027; email ameyer@odva.org
CIP, CIP Motion, CIP Safety, CIP Sync, CompoNet, ControlNet, DeviceNet, EtherNet/IP and ODVA are trademarks of ODVA. Other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
