Success of EtherCAT in China continues
September 2016
News
The world headquarters of the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) in Nuremberg, Germany was founded in 2003 and has since grown into a global phenomenon. Today, the ETG maintains regional offices in four other countries. One such country is China where Beryl Fan, manager of the local ETG office in Beijing, and her team promote EtherCAT technology while supporting implementation in the Chinese market. In these areas, they have become extremely successful: when the ETG China Office was founded in 2007, there were fewer than 10 member companies. Now, the People’s Republic of China has broken the 500-member barrier.
The ETG member companies themselves come from various branches of industry, evidence of the widespread adoption of EtherCAT in China. Additionally, leading companies and universities actively study EtherCAT technology and its implementation.
Looking back at the development of the ETG in China, accrediting the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics as an official EtherCAT Test Center (ETC) in 2013 was a significant step in furthering the organisation’s work in China. In 2014, EtherCAT became a recommended national standard in China, making it even easier to implement and use the technology there. The next step followed in 2015 when EtherCAT was included in the National Intelligent Manufacturing Standard System Construction Guidelines as one of the recommended standards for high-end machine building, as well as for intelligent manufacturing in China.
EtherCAT is not only well established as a communications standard within industry, but has also become a major force in the Chinese market. Visits to local automation fairs prove that: almost all exhibitors provide devices that communicate via EtherCAT.
Beryl Fan is pleased with the success of the ETG in China and remains convinced that positive developments will continue into the foreseeable future: “We keep working hard to make EtherCAT even stronger in China. Building on the versatile support and service we offer our members, we strive to help them enhance their performance even more – working toward the goals of the ‘Made in China 2025’ strategy.”
For more information contact EtherCAT Technology Group, +49 911 540 56 226, [email protected], www.ethercat.org
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