CC-Link expands horizons with management board appointments

Independent research confirms that CC-Link has a leadership position in the Asian market, and China plays a key part in this. Following the introduction of the successful "Gateway to China" programme, the CLPA has now appointed a leading Chinese energy management company to its board of directors to accelerate adoption in the Chinese market. Shanghai Electric Ryoden Energy Saving and Control Technology Co., Ltd ("SERT") is a subsidiary of Shanghai Electric Group Co. Ltd., one of China's largest diversified equipment manufacturers, with a history reaching back over 100 years.

SERT will join the existing six board members (IDEC Corporation, Digital Electronics Corporation, NEC Corporation, Sumitomo 3M Limited, Cognex K.K., and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation) in setting the strategic direction for the future of CC-Link and providing direction to the task forces. These in turn oversee technical development and marketing activities in order to insure CC-Link's continued success in the global marketplace.

Parallel to this, CLPA also announced the appointment of Professor Akiyoshi Kabe, of Tokyo's Waseda University, as an engineering adviser. Waseda is one of Japan's leading universities, and during his time there Professor Kabe has pursued research into the management of technology and robotics for the care of the elderly. Prior to this he had extensive experience in the development of robotics and factory automation. He has been recruited with the aim of identifying ways for CC-Link technologies to be used in other fields beyond the traditional factory automation applications of today.

CC-Link is an open automation network standard that offers deterministic high-speed control of devices and systems in manufacturing and production facilities. It allows equipment from many different manufacturers to communicate with one another and also with higher level controllers over a common network. Further, it can connect seamlessly to enterprise information system networks, to provide complete transparency of data throughout an organisation.

CC-Link is available in several formats including a high speed Industrial Ethernet version that provides data transmission at 1Gbps. It is by far the most popular open automation network technology throughout Asia and is continuing to grow in Europe and the Americas.

Trade and business links

The CLPA directs development of CC-Link technology, promotes it in the marketplace, conducts conformance tests, provides technical assistance in developing CC-Link-compatible products, develops trade and business links and promotes CC-Link with various publicity activities. The CLPA currently has over 1700 member organisations including device makers, machine builders, end users and universities and is forecast to experience strong growth of the foreseeable future.

The CLPA was founded in Japan in 2000 and now has major operations throughout the world. CLPA Europe's General Manager, John Browett, gave some background for the new appointments. He says: "We have independent research data that shows CC-Link is the leading network technology for Asia. Obviously China is a key part of this market and a country the CLPA has focused on for some time. We began our popular Gateway to China ("G2C") campaign over one year ago, and the appointment of SERT further strengthens our activities in this market.

"CC-Link has been used in some atypical applications for many years. As well as the expected factory automation examples, we have seen it used in other areas such as building automation. Professor Kabe's appointment will see us continuing to broaden the reach of our technology into further new areas."

To find out more about CC-Link open automation network technology, please go to www.the-non-stop-open-network.com/.