PROFIBUS networks feature high robustness. Even when minor problems are accumulating on the network, the communication continues undisturbed, without exhibiting any visible symptoms.
This may be tricky – when, eventually, the production line fails, you will address only one of the causes of the failure, while the others will go unnoticed. It is thus essential that your networks receive regular maintenance and problems detected get solved before they take their toll.
When to Analyse Industrial Networks
Checks on your industrial communications should be part and parcel of your regular preventive maintenance. You should, nevertheless, also have your networks analysed or permanently monitored if you:
When analysing PROFIBUS (or CANbus or DeviceNET), we mainly check the quality / health of the cabling, wiring and connectors, active termination settings, the impact of electromagnetic interference, network topology, node power supply and more. For that, you need to use special tools that identify and localise network problems, as standard programs, such as the STEP7 and the TIA Portal, are not designed for this purpose.
Is unplanned downtime unacceptable to you? If you want to be warned of any problem immediately and have your networks under control 24/7, you should use continuous monitoring tools. You will have access to online data through user-friendly visualisations. And, if something out of the ordinary is about to happen, you will get an alert notification, for example via email. Your maintenance personnel will solve the problem in time, preventing a communication failure.
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