Pneumatic Networks Still Use the Bus
Date: 03 August 2011

Austin, Texas – 3rd August  2011. In 2010, the global market for pneumatic valve blocks increased 18.4% to reach $861.5 million, which represented over 1 million blocks reaching the international market. Almost half of these products included a facility to be networked. However, according to the latest market report from IMS Research, for every valve block networked with an Ethernet based protocol, nine were networked with a fieldbus.

The advantages of closed loop communication and intelligent feedback have become increasingly desirable for pneumatic set-ups, and have enabled engineers to reduce air wastage and provide system monitoring and diagnostics. However, the absence of an industry standard network protocol leaves the user with a wide variety of options from which to choose, ranging from supplier specific, proprietary fieldbusses, to universally compatible Ethernet TCP/IP.

Research Manager Rob Carter comments “In 2010, PROFIBUS was used for over quarter of all valve block networking applications and DeviceNet almost a fifth. These two supplier championed fieldbus protocols are currently each more prevalent than the combined variants of Ethernet which account for only fourteen percent total”.

Carter continues “The additional complexity of Ethernet variants far outweigh the advantages of its higher speed communication in pneumatics systems, where actuation speeds are determined to a greater extent by air flow rates. The comparable simplicity of many fieldbus protocols makes this a more desirable option in most stand-alone systems, limiting Ethernet use to instances of large scale networking from factory floor to control room.”

Whilst Ethernet is still expected to remain the fastest growing networking protocol for pneumatic valve blocks, by 2015 it is expected to account for only 18% of global pneumatic networking applications, still a long way behind fieldbus technologies.

 

For more information please contact:

Rob Carter – Research Manager

T: +1 512 302 1977

Editors Note :

About The World Market for Pneumatic Valves - 2011 report
Report covers all pneumatic single valves and valve blocks used for direction, flow and pressure control. It is a global report built up by separately analyzing four major regional markets EMEA, Americas, Asia Pacific and Japan.

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About IMS Research:

About IMS Research
IMS Research is a leading independent supplier of market research and consultancy to the global electronics industry, offering syndicated market studies, custom research and consultancy services. Clients include most of the household names in the industry. IMS Research has offices in Europe, the US, China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. To find out more, contact IMS Research: enquiries@imsresearch.com; T: +44 (0) 1933 402255; http://imsresearch.com

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