ISA MEETING

SEPTEMBER 17, 2003

Speaker: Mark Fondl
Industrial Networks (Fieldbus to Ethernet and their proper deployment)

A key in the usefulness of any technology in Automation is in the appropriate use of that technology. This is especially important as standard commercial technologies target the industrial environment. This is as true for the emerging use of Ethernet, as it was for the use of PC in automation systems. This presentation will review the evolution of networks from early serial communications to the latest versions of EtherNet/IP and Foundation Fieldbus. The presentation will cover the use and integration of current Fieldbus technology into and on-to Ethernet. Techniques being deployed to encapsulate serial protocols over Ethernet will be covered to review how installed legacy systems are being connected to a common infrastructure. Parallel architectures that enable control and operations personnel to manage and configure equipment remotely. Selection criteria on what the benefits of various networking technologies will be reviewed. Vendor neutral this presentation will cover how most companies are addressing the networking area.

The presentation will review some of the latest Networking software tools for the Industrial applications and why they are required. These tools provide the ability to install Ethernet technologies with the same functionalities and characteristics that have been available from proprietary industrial networks.

Presenter: Mark Fondl
President, Industrial Communication Technologies
Former VP and General Manager of Lantronix Automation Division, VP of Marketing of Schneider Automation.
Member of the Board of Directors of Foundation Fieldbus 1996-1999. Involved in the movement of FF to High Speed Ethernet HSE. Winner of 1999 Computerworld’s Smithsonian Award for the “Transparent Factory” Internet adoption onto the factory floor.
Speaker at ISA conferences in Houston (ISA Expo-Sept 2001), Atlanta (In Plant Communications-Sept 2002), ISPE Boston.

Mark Fondl is president of Industrial Communication Technologies Inc. (Newburyport, MA) a company that specializes in software and hardware products that assist both plant floor and networking specialist support the deployment of Ethernet communications. Prior to founding Network Vision, Mark was VP and General Manager of the Automation Division of Lantronix.  Headquartered in Irvine, California, Lantronix is a leading provider of network-enabling technology that makes it possible to manage, configure, control and communicate with nearly any intelligent device over the Internet and shared networks.

Mark’s career highlights also include his tenure as VP, Worldwide Marketing for Schneider Automation where he developed the product roadmap termed “Transparent Factory” which became a framework for linking plant-floor automation systems with enterprise business systems via Internet and Ethernet technologies. A year after its debut in 1997, Transparent Factory won a ComputerWorld Smithsonian award for its technological contribution to the manufacturing sector.

Mark also served on the Board of Directors of the Fieldbus Foundation between 1996 and 1999, and was a key player to move toward the current FF-HSE technology that moved to an Ethernet based foundation.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS FLYER
Microsoft Word Document (194 KB)