The Ethercat Master CPUs 315SN/EC and 317SN/EC from Vipa are available in conjunction with the Speed7 Ethercat Manager or the configuration tool Speed7 Studio (both from Vipa). A new feature is the combination of the Simatic world and Ethercat networking. In order to be able to use all the advantages of Ethercat network technology in conjunction with the Simatic world, Vipa has created the necessary bridge between the two worlds with the Ethercat Manager. The user configures as usual in his S7 language, the Speed7 Ethercat Manager converts this data into the Ethercat format. In practical terms, this means that the Simatic Manager (V 5.5) can continue to be the programming basis; only the Speed7 Ethercat Manager needs to be installed. With this combination, all Ethercat options are fully available. It is even easier with the new engineering tool Speed7 Studio. Here, the Speed7 Ethercat Manager is already part of the software package.