Companies that use converged and transparent systems gain better insights into their processes and can therefore improve quality, increase productivity and ultimately reduce costs.

John Browett, General Manager of the CC-Link Partner Association(CLPA) - Europe, explains how TSN supports convergence and transparency and what solutions are available to companies.

The future systems of the connected industries will draw constant streams of data from factories. The insights that come from this data are a key tool for optimizing manufacturing processes to adapt to advanced and future challenges.

Whether the implementation of convergence and transparency is successful ultimately depends on the performance of the supporting industrial networks. The network must be able to transfer large volumes of data from a wide variety of sources within the company. This data traffic must be deterministic, i.e. reliable and predictable, in order to guarantee operational performance and efficiency.

TSN, an extension of the Ethernet standard, is the most promising Ethernet technology for industrial applications, enabling deterministic communication through time synchronization and traffic scheduling. These mechanisms create the conditions for the necessary convergence and the required level of transparency. In the future, this will mean that in addition to machine control data, such as I/O states, safety and motion control data will also run synchronously in real time over the same network. Furthermore, asynchronous, non-time-critical data of any kind, based on TCP/IP or UDP/IP, can now also be transmitted. This gives us simpler, more cost-effective and easier to maintain network architectures that bring a whole new level of transparency to production processes.

As a result, operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) are converging. This convergence not only simplifies the networks in production, but also connects the production area to the business level and optionally to the cloud, and vice versa.

CLPA as a pioneer for innovation

In 2020, the CLPA celebrated its 20th anniversary. Since its inception, CLPA has always played a pioneering role in technological innovations in industrial networks for automation and has a proven track record of success. To continue innovating for the next 20 years, CLPA launched CC-Link IE TSN at the end of 2018. This is the first open industrial Ethernet for automation that combines gigabit bandwidth with TSN functionalities, representing the industrial communication of the future while supporting current requirements. This will help manufacturers of industrial automation components to develop and bring TSN-compliant products to market as quickly as possible. Machine builders as well as end users can then optimize their factory floor processes by implementing this technology.

Manufacturers of automation components can secure decisive competitive advantages by quickly deciding to connect their products to the open network technology CC-Link-IE TSN.

Machine builders can reduce costs through simplified system design and benefit from faster time-to-market. Similarly, manufacturing companies can prepare for the future by using these products and systems to optimize their current processes now.

Time-Sensitive Networking - time to act

Want to find out more? The CLPA has produced a white paper to show you the reasons to take immediate action on TSN. End users, machine builders and device manufacturers will find this a useful guide to why integrating TSN will bring you tangible benefits as you move into the converged future.
Download your free copy now.

If you would like to discuss CC-Link IE TSN directly with the CLPA, contact them at [email protected] for Europe or [email protected] for the Americas.