Ethernet's winning ways

Ethernet networks are winning big in manufacturing automation and process control-and for good reasons: they save money and they simplify operations. By 2003, the market for Ethernet networks that connect the factory to the higher levels of business operations and supply chain management is expected to reach US $3.5 billon. GE-Cisco Industrial Networks, a newly formed joint venture in Charlottesville designs, installs, and services industrial networks. The company projected that the manufacturing and process control market will be nearly 100 percent Ethernet within the next four years. Already, at least 5 percent of the manufacturing and process plants have Ethernet-based systems on the production floor, according to GE-Cisco. While this is still a small percentage, Ethernet capability is becoming such an important factor in the industry that the various industrial fieldbus consortia are redefining their communications protocols to work with both the Ethernet and the Internet.