Siemens is launching a software tool for designing and simulating Profinet automation networks. The "Siemens Network Planner" Sinetplan is aimed at system planners, builders and operators and supports them from the planning and commissioning to the operation of a Profinet communication network. In order to ensure operational reliability later on and avoid problems during commissioning, the network is already set up topologically in the planning phase and possible bottlenecks caused by load peaks, for example, are simulated. During the operating phase, the tool provides transparency about network utilization down to the port level of the individual participants via online scans, traffic shapers or reporting functions. This prevents unnecessary downtime due to network overload. The software is used in particular for planning and operating Profinet networks that use acyclical data services such as TCP/IP in addition to cyclical real-time communication. Projects already planned in Step 7 are simply imported and existing systems are scanned, verified and simulated online.