A decade of networking assembly machines

Over the last decade CC-Link has become a global favourite as a high speed, highly robust open network, with a rapidly growing market share in all regions. The association's latest technology has been coined 'The Non-Stop Open Network' because of its high availability. The network is claimed to tick all the boxes for automation systems suppliers and users alike, by offering fieldbus, bit-bus, safety and industrial Ethernet variants. Originated by the global automation business of Mitsubishi Electric, CC-Link has become the de-facto standard for automation networks in Asia. And with its rapidly increasing acceptance worldwide, CC-Link is unrivalled for global manufacturers looking to implement a single networking standard across multiple sites in multiple regions. As a result it is the network standard for many of the world's best known industrial corporations. The technology has many performance and availability advantages that make it an ideal choice in today's automated systems. It is a proven, robust and reliable technology that meets the most critical communications requirements in the most challenging of industrial environments. This capability is reflected in the installed base, which has risen to over 7 million nodes and is growing at around 1 million nodes per year. CLPA numbers over 1,300 partner companies among its members, many of whom have developed compatible products, giving users access to well over 1000 best-of-breed network devices.