Despite more than two years of delivery issues and other uncertainties as a result of the pandemic, manufacturers of products using technology from PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI) have reported very positive figures for 2021. This is especially true for IO-Link. In no small part is this thanks to years of consistent further development of the technologies coordinated with users.
The biggest year-over-year increase in 2021 was 30%, seen by IO-Link. This is nearly the same growth rate as the year prior and proof that further development of IO-Link in the right direction has been striven for by active experts, who have also been consistently making progress with IO-Link over SPE. The annual figure of IO-Link devices installed amounted to 6.3 million nodes, and the total number is now over 27 million.
“The continuing positive trend for products with PI technology on the market is based on the user’s trust in having bet on the right horse. And this is no coincidence. In our active working groups, a large community is continuously developing sustainable communication and information standards, which offer our users technologies for implementing digital production in line with Industry 4.0,” said PI Chairman Karsten Schneider. “Motivated by market success, our working groups are deeply committed to a number of projects. We hope to be able to present our technological developments in person at this year’s Hanover Fair after being away for more than two years,” added Schneider.