Wireless wars [Automation Wireless]

Late last autumn, automation end-users in the US were asked in an Internet poll which new technologies they think will have the greatest impact for their businesses in the next few years. Far and away the leading contender cited by about 20 per cent of respondents was the adoption of wireless, with cable-free I/O, Ethernet, control, networking and Fieldbus among the specific examples. This is an explicit indication of industry's growing appetite for wireless, which is increasingly being seen as a strategic enabling technology: doing away with wires offers greater workforce mobility, better network flexibility and access to remote or difficult locations. There are also potentially huge savings in cabling costs a key issue for the process industry, for example, which has been one of the earliest adopters of wireless technology.