March 4, 2025 • 21 mins
This episode highlights Ethernet's essential role in smart manufacturing, emphasizing its reliability, scalability, and interoperability as key components of modern industrial connectivity. Listeners will gain insights into Ethernet's network levels, topologies, and the importance of choosing the right communication protocol for their manufacturing needs.
• Ethernet enhances real-time data flow from the factory floor to business systems
• Four primary network levels with distinct functions explained
• Overview of network topologies: star, ring, trunk
• Introduction to the OSI model and its relevance to Ethernet
• Comparison of Ethernet and PROFINET protocols
• The importance of interoperability in industrial networks
• Future outlook on Ethernet as a cornerstone of industrial connectivity
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Host: Chris Grainger
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Eco Ask why, a podcast that dives into
industrial manufacturing topicsand spotlights the heroes that
keep America running.
I'm your host, chris Granger,and on this podcast, we do not
cover the latest features andbenefits on products that come
to market.
Instead, we focus on advice andinsight from the top minds of
industry, because people andideas will be how America
(00:24):
remains number one inmanufacturing in the world.
Welcome to EECO Asks why.
I'm your host, chris Granger.
I'm looking forward to hangingout with you today.
Thank you for listening to thisepisode and we're going to get
right into it.
We've been talking a lotrecently about smart
manufacturing and why that'simportant, the benefits of
(00:48):
modernization and how you canget started there, and we've
reached a point in thisconversation or at least just
reflecting on the topic that weneed to get down to the backbone
.
If we look at smartmanufacturing, what connects all
these pieces together?
That brings us to this episodetoday, which is Ethernet.
(01:09):
That really is the backbone forconnectivity and we've seen the
way technology has revolved andrefined over time in smart
manufacturing and connectivityis such a big piece of it.
And Ethernet if we look at thelast 10 years or so, that really
(01:30):
has emerged as the dominantcommunication standard,
particularly in industrialautomation, and that's really
what we're focusing on Now.
You have scalability optionswith that.
You have interoperabilitythings that need to come into
consideration, as well as justhow adopted is the communication
standard in general.
Now, when you have Ethernet,we're going to look at things
(01:55):
like the real-time data flow,how that ties into your
predictive maintenance programas well as your system-wide
integration.
As well as your system-wideintegration, because as you
build your plan out, you need tohave an understanding of the
benefits of picking a certainstandard protocol, for instance,
and many manufacturers outthere can feel like this
(02:16):
transition is overwhelmingbecause there's lots of
terminologies, there's lots ofprotocols.
It can get complex quick and Ijust want to encourage you,
someone who is you know this isnot my background in general.
I have the electricalengineering background, but not
really specific to networkengineering, and I can tell you,
after interviewing so manyexperts over the years on EcoASY
(02:39):
on this topic, you can get inthe deep end of the pool really
quickly and if that happens,don't hit the panic button and
don't check out.
Reach out.
We have a team at an electricalequipment company of experts
with our product management aswell as with our solution
architecture group that areready to come in and to really
(03:01):
boil it down and to simplify andhelp you apply the items that
we're talking about today toyour specific situation scenario
.
So I'd encourage you right nowif this gets ahead of you and
you feel like you know what Iwant to talk to someone about my
install base, reach out.
We'll have links and show notes, links and video notes, all
(03:23):
that stuff connected so you cango directly and get plugged in
with our team of experts thatare on standby, on the ready and
they have that wisdom.
They have that knowledge tohelp you grow All right.
So let's start off by justthinking about why Ethernet in
general.
We just want to understand whywhy even go this route?
Really, it comes in reliability.
It's very reliable, it's veryscalable and it's very cost
(03:46):
effective because it's not likea proprietary field bus network.
This is a universal standardthat Ethernet brings and it
gives you broad compatibilityacross lots of different devices
and systems.
So you don't have to reallyworry so much about the type of
manufacturer that you lock in on, so long as they have that
(04:06):
common communication protocol,and that's what it's all about.
It helps you really startbringing the IIoT the industrial
Internet of Things, to yourplatform and, hands down, it's
the number one platform ofchoice.
You have that globalstandardization, so IEEE 802.3
is maybe one that you'll hearabout from time to time.
(04:27):
That ensures that consistentand reliable performance.
It works very well for mostpart on high-speed data
transmission.
So you get to gigabit or 10GEthernet cable and it's also a
very cost-effectiveimplementation.
Okay, because the standardhardware that's out there
(04:48):
creates a competitive market forthose manufacturers and thus
lowers your cost.
Again, very scalable veryscalable on site-wide locations
as well as as you startfuture-proofing and start
thinking of how you're going tomeet the future standards of
your process and control.
Ethernet brings that.
Now.
There's four primary networklevels.
(05:09):
We just want to just kind ofoverview with them for you right
now to help you understand howEthernet connects to your
factory floor.
And once you understand thesefour levels, their distinct
functions, it may help younavigate this even more
seamlessly.
So the first one is your ERPlevel, that's Enterprise
(05:31):
Resource Planning.
Most people call it ERP.
That's your business layer.
This manages the supply chain,the inventory, the finance, the
customer orders, all that stuff.
This is your aggregatingproduction data together from
like an MES or a SCADA system.
And Ethernet, right at thislevel, allows real-time data
flow from the factory floor tothe business system.
(05:52):
That's the big thing to thebusiness system.
Okay.
Now if you move down a layer,you have your MES or your SCADA.
Okay, this is manufacturingexecution system.
Okay, or thesupervisor-controlled SCADA
system.
This is your management layer.
So this helps you trackmaterials, ensures compliance,
helps you optimize yourproduction processes.
(06:15):
The SCADA component brings inmonitoring for your plant
operations, alarms, equipmentperformance You'll hear a lot of
that stuff at this level.
And Ethernet, again, right here, the high-speed capability and
connectivity of it ensuresreal-time communication for this
level.
So now, again, if this is alevel that you need help with,
(06:36):
we have experts that can work atthis level.
If you drop down another one,you have your control level.
This is your PLC, hmi, theautomation level layer.
Rather, lots of listeners outthere are probably comfortable
with this level.
This is where you get your PLCs, your programmable logical
controllers.
There you have your HMIs foryour human machine interfaces,
(06:56):
for the operator dashboard, forequipment monitoring, directly
connecting right there.
And again, ethernet has a greatstand right here to help keep
those controllers and high levelsystems connected.
And then, at the final layer,you have your field system.
Okay, your field level.
These are your sensors, youractuators, this is typically
called the device layer as well,and these devices that are out
(07:20):
there on a plant floor, and Ihave to tell you, this is the
layer that's probably growingthe most, because you have more
and more devices that arecommunicating on this level,
with these features rather, andyou'll be able to pull in that
data Lots of times.
This is low latencycommunication type of devices.
And, again, industrial Ethernetis very, very reliable, right
(07:42):
here, and all these thingsconnect a unified network and
eliminates any places where youhave data silos, where you have
a lot of data but you only haveit in that system.
No, we don't want to live thatworld anymore.
If we have data, we want toaccess it, no matter where we're
at.
If we have data, we want toaccess it, no matter where we're
at.
Ok, now then you have differenttopologies when you start
(08:03):
working and configuring anEthernet network.
Ok, high level overview, righthere.
Again, we're just going totouch on it.
If you have questions on whichone is you have, or you want to
have a better understanding, wehave experts, again, all staff
that can come right in and helpyou directly connect with you,
with your team, plug into yournetwork and help you have a
better understanding.
(08:23):
So, to start off with, you havea star type of topology, okay,
and that sets up devices in aswitch.
You have kind of like a centralhub.
It's very easy to troubleshoot,it's very high performing.
But a switch failure ifsomething fails, component level
fails, it can disrupt the wholenetwork.
So you have to just be aware ofthat.
It says these are all pros andcons, right.
(08:44):
Then you have a ring topology,so that's more of a circular
type of network that's set up.
It's very redundant.
You have that built-inredundancy because data can
travel in both directions if alink fails.
But it's more complex.
It's a complex configurationthat you've got to get set up.
Then you have a trunk topologyokay, or a bus you may have
heard it called a bus out therein the industrial manufacturing
(09:07):
world and devices share a singlecommunication backbone.
Simple to set up, it's aminimal cabling.
But there is limited bandwidthhere, okay, and there are
potential bottlenecks dependingon design and engineering.
So these are just again, justthree.
There's different, more thanjust three, but these are three
we see commonly.
(09:28):
I just want to let you knowabout those.
That way, if somebody says youknow ring or bust or trunk
topology, at least it's comeacross you before and it's not a
net new for you.
Okay, at least it's come acrossyou before and it's not a net
new for you.
Okay.
Now you'll also hear differentthings in this world.
You'll hear things talked aboutlike OSI model.
Okay, and what is OSI model?
(09:50):
Well, that's the Open SystemsInterconnection Model which
defines seven communicationlayers.
Now we just went through fouron the Ethernet level, but for
the OSI, that's model specific,it's a seven-layer OSI and
that's how you'll hear it oftentalked about.
Layer one's the physical.
That's your cabling.
That's the type of cable andhardware and switches and
(10:11):
routers and stuff like that thatyou use inside the industrial
manufacturing location.
Then layer two is your datalink.
This is your MAC addresses,your Ethernet frames.
You have your VLANs.
Layer three is your network.
This is your IP addressing.
Okay, routing communicationpaths.
Then you get to layer four,which is transport.
This is TCP protocols forreliable high data speed
(10:33):
transfer.
Layer five is your session.
This manages your connectionbetween applications Not used a
lot in industrial manufacturing,but it's there.
Then you layer six is yourpresentation.
This is your data formatting,encryption, compression.
And then layer seven isapplication.
This is your protocols.
This is where you get Ethernetor Profinet or wherever they are
(10:55):
right there.
It's just a good again for thisepisode.
Just to give you a high-leveltouchpoint.
If you've never heard the OSImodel before, we want to walk
through that.
There's lots of visualizationson OSI model.
Again, this is all part of ourSmart Manufacturing Guide.
Highly encourage you to gocheck that out.
If you want to dig more and tolean in with more resources here
(11:15):
, okay, and to lean in with moreresources here, okay.
Now you'll also hear differenttypes of communications
platforms out there, and acommon one that we see in
industrial manufacturing thatwe'll talk about for a minute is
Ethernet versus PROFINET.
Okay.
Now you could think likethere's a battle between the two
(11:36):
.
In some ways it is, but youneed to just understand they
both had their suitableapplication.
We just need to understand whatthey are and when you start
thinking about a protocolmanager, the Ethernet is an open
ODVA type of setup wherePROFINET is very specific to the
(11:59):
PROFIBUS and PROFINETInternational, and Ethernet is
less deterministic but it isimproving with time.
Sensitive networking.
Profinet is more deterministic,with real time capabilities.
They both have about 30 percentmarket share, so they're both
doing pretty well there.
And when you start thinkingabout the Ethernet, the network
(12:21):
type, it's fully Ethernet.
It's open standard, it's widelyadopted.
But if you look at Profinet, ituses Ethernet and field bus
components but it's preferredfor high-speed motion.
So that's really the things toconsider there.
Ethernet is more flexible andwidely used.
Profinet really excels inhigh-speed motion applications.
Again, your application isgoing to determine the standard
(12:44):
and the requirement.
But these are things you needto know.
So if you have a high-speedmotion application, you need to
understand what are yourrequirements for your process
before you start dialing in theprotocol, as it would be.
Then you have determinism.
Okay, because that's kind ofEthernet's biggest challenge.
And Ethernet isnon-deterministic, meaning
there's no guaranteed time framefor message delivery.
(13:07):
Okay, now this can beproblematic because if you have
real-time high-speedapplications, this could be
problematic, like robots ormotion control and what you can
do.
There's ways to work aroundthis with time-sensitive
networking.
Okay, this helps you improvereal-time performance by
prioritizing what the traffic isand where that traffic goes.
(13:28):
Then you have a SIP sync okay,you'll hear that that's just a
CIP sync, but usually it'scalled SIP sync.
It's IEEE 1588 to help yousynchronize motion control
applications.
All right.
And then Profinet RRT againreduces jitter and helps ensure
this high speed data consistency.
(13:49):
So these are just items again toconsider as you start thinking
about your network.
If you talk to Ethernet orsorry, network engineers, these
are some common types ofterminology that you want to be
aware of Then you also hear inthis world the word
interoperability.
So that's interoperability, nowthat ensures that devices from
(14:13):
different manufacturersCommunicate seamlessly.
The beauty of this is amanufacturer is someone who's
worked in distribution for myentire career.
This is a big deal, becausesometimes once you choose a path
, you're locked on that path.
Right, in manufacturing it hasbeen that way in the past.
(14:34):
Right, we've got this type ofequipment installed.
We've got to stay with it,because this is too hard to
change it over.
Totally get it Until you startthinking about items like
interoperability.
And when you start thinkingabout that, all of a sudden you
start getting freed up becauseyou're not so much tied to the
(14:54):
manufacturer as you are tied tothe communication standard.
See how that changes everythingthat helps you really scale out
your networks.
Again you can start thinkingabout a multi-vendor ecosystem
where you're not so bent andtied to one directly, and this
helps you when you startthinking about upgrades and
(15:15):
expansion and investment forprotection in the future.
This really opens it up as youstart the interoperability, as
the interoperability just hitsthe plant floor Now.
These are both open standardsPROFINET and Ethernet okay and
they allow for incrediblyefficient interoperability
(15:35):
across all devices.
So if you're looking at againRockwell, siemens, eaton, banner
, turd, gascao, all the bigplayers out there right, they
had these differentmanufacturers and they're
working with these differenttypes of Ethernet protocols and
this makes it very easy for youas the end user to pull that in
(15:57):
and try it without having to doa wholesale change on a lineup.
Right, and I'm telling you themore and more we've done on this
.
Ethernet is definitely thefuture of industrial
connectivity.
It's such a big deal.
It's a winning platform.
It's a platform we stand behind.
Smart manufacturing has beenbuilding the backbone of that
for such a long time.
It's scalable across all thedifferent layers.
(16:19):
It's flexible with thedifferent types of typologies to
meet the factory demands.
It's seamless for yourintegration Consider the OSI
model.
It helps you support real-timedeterminism and it's
interoperable as you startfuture-proofing investments.
And again, we want it for thisparticular episode to kind of
(16:43):
brush over with a high brush,but also to let you know we are
here, our teams are ready.
Again, our product managementand solution architecture I've
worked with solutionarchitecture for years in the
Carolinas.
Those guys are great, they'reincredible, they're brilliant.
I've worked for productmanagement teams for things like
(17:05):
forever at EECO and they justkeep getting better.
They're individuals who arelocked in.
They love their craft, theylove technology, they love
asking questions, coming alongside by side, and they help you
learn and grow.
So again, that expertise issitting right here within ECO.
(17:25):
So if you're within an ECObranch location and you want
help here, reach out.
We have ways.
Well, again, put links righthere in the show notes as well
as the video links so you couldgo schedule time directly, you
could call them directly.
You'll be able to.
We want to make it extremelyeasy for you to connect with the
resource and the team that youneed to help answer your
(17:47):
questions.
Okay, whether it's just networkupgrades, just general
troubleshooting, or if you'remore interested and you want to
sit down and do some long-termfuture planning, we're here,
we're ready to help you navigatethis.
Just do not want you to feellike you're out here on an
island by yourself and all youhave is your mouse and your
keyboard.
No, let us come alongside ofyou.
(18:09):
We have lots of tools andresources so far scanning your
network, giving you a betterunderstanding of your network,
better understanding yourvulnerabilities, better
understanding your capabilities,better understanding where you
should consider for futureinvestments, just laying out
that roadmap for smartmanufacturing.
This is what we do.
We take this very seriously andwe've made the investment with
(18:30):
the experts, with the team, withthe equipment, and we're here
to help you.
All right.
So love, love, love to supportyou Again.
Check out the show notes, thelinks, all that stuff to get
connected with us and share thisstuff out Again.
This was a high-levelconversation today, but this
helped you.
It may help someone else.
So if you have a fellow personthat's working in manufacturing,
(18:52):
or maybe ENI technician ormaybe even procurement, you just
want to get a betterunderstanding of some of the
high-level terminology, sharethis out.
This is what we do this for,okay, so again, head over to
ecoonlinecom.
Get connected, get your accountset up as well.
Get that online account set upso that you can log in to our
system.
(19:12):
You can see exactly what wehave in stock.
You can check in pricing,availability, you can get all
the different types of cutsheets and all the information
that you need up front allwithin our system.
So get your account set uptoday.
We've had lots of conversationsand talks and videos about how
to do that in the past.
Go back and check all that stuffout on Eco, ask why that's
(19:32):
where we have all that stuffthere for.
So get that set up.
And then go visit a branch.
We have these labs set up inVirginia and the Carolinas all
set up.
So if you want to come in andget your hands on and start
playing with devices maybe youhave a new drive system and you
want to have a betterunderstanding of integration
come to the lab and let us playwith you.
(19:53):
We'll come alongside, we'llboot it up, we'll show you how
to get it started.
We'll help you configure.
This is what we do.
This is what we do.
This is what we love.
We love playing with thetechnology and coming alongside
and building your confidence,because as your confidence grows
up in the technology that youinstall, man, you could do so
much more incredible things outthere, but we know it can be
daunting, it can be intimidating, it can be scary.
(20:16):
It just makes it.
It can be scary out there.
You don't want to be the onewho puts in a piece of equipment
Next thing you know when itdoesn't perform the way you
desired.
We want to help you prevent allthat stuff.
Okay, and that is what oursolution architecture and our
product management teams do.
All right, so thank you so muchfor listening.
If you would give us a ratingand review, that just helps push
(20:37):
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(20:57):
That's Ecoonlinecom.
All right, thank you so muchfor listening.
Love hanging out with you againthis month.
Have a great day and rememberto keep asking why, redefining
the expectations of anelectrical distributor by
(21:19):
placing people and ideas beforeproducts.
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Also leave comments, feedbackand any new topics that you
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To learn more or to share yourinsights, visit EECOASKSWHYCOM.
That's EECOASKSWHYCOMA-S-K-S-W-H-Y dot com.
Welcome to Eco Ask why, a podcast that dives into
industrial manufacturing topicsand spotlights the heroes that
keep America running.
I'm your host, chris Granger,and on this podcast, we do not
cover the latest features andbenefits on products that come
to market.
Instead, we focus on advice andinsight from the top minds of
industry, because people andideas will be how America
(00:24):
remains number one inmanufacturing in the world.
Welcome to EECO Asks why.
I'm your host, chris Granger.
I'm looking forward to hangingout with you today.
Thank you for listening to thisepisode and we're going to get
right into it.
We've been talking a lotrecently about smart
manufacturing and why that'simportant, the benefits of
(00:48):
modernization and how you canget started there, and we've
reached a point in thisconversation or at least just
reflecting on the topic that weneed to get down to the backbone
.
If we look at smartmanufacturing, what connects all
these pieces together?
That brings us to this episodetoday, which is Ethernet.
(01:09):
That really is the backbone forconnectivity and we've seen the
way technology has revolved andrefined over time in smart
manufacturing and connectivityis such a big piece of it.
And Ethernet if we look at thelast 10 years or so, that really
(01:30):
has emerged as the dominantcommunication standard,
particularly in industrialautomation, and that's really
what we're focusing on Now.
You have scalability optionswith that.
You have interoperabilitythings that need to come into
consideration, as well as justhow adopted is the communication
standard in general.
Now, when you have Ethernet,we're going to look at things
(01:55):
like the real-time data flow,how that ties into your
predictive maintenance programas well as your system-wide
integration.
As well as your system-wideintegration, because as you
build your plan out, you need tohave an understanding of the
benefits of picking a certainstandard protocol, for instance,
and many manufacturers outthere can feel like this
(02:16):
transition is overwhelmingbecause there's lots of
terminologies, there's lots ofprotocols.
It can get complex quick and Ijust want to encourage you,
someone who is you know this isnot my background in general.
I have the electricalengineering background, but not
really specific to networkengineering, and I can tell you,
after interviewing so manyexperts over the years on EcoASY
(02:39):
on this topic, you can get inthe deep end of the pool really
quickly and if that happens,don't hit the panic button and
don't check out.
Reach out.
We have a team at an electricalequipment company of experts
with our product management aswell as with our solution
architecture group that areready to come in and to really
(03:01):
boil it down and to simplify andhelp you apply the items that
we're talking about today toyour specific situation scenario
.
So I'd encourage you right nowif this gets ahead of you and
you feel like you know what Iwant to talk to someone about my
install base, reach out.
We'll have links and show notes, links and video notes, all
(03:23):
that stuff connected so you cango directly and get plugged in
with our team of experts thatare on standby, on the ready and
they have that wisdom.
They have that knowledge tohelp you grow All right.
So let's start off by justthinking about why Ethernet in
general.
We just want to understand whywhy even go this route?
Really, it comes in reliability.
It's very reliable, it's veryscalable and it's very cost
(03:46):
effective because it's not likea proprietary field bus network.
This is a universal standardthat Ethernet brings and it
gives you broad compatibilityacross lots of different devices
and systems.
So you don't have to reallyworry so much about the type of
manufacturer that you lock in on, so long as they have that
(04:06):
common communication protocol,and that's what it's all about.
It helps you really startbringing the IIoT the industrial
Internet of Things, to yourplatform and, hands down, it's
the number one platform ofchoice.
You have that globalstandardization, so IEEE 802.3
is maybe one that you'll hearabout from time to time.
(04:27):
That ensures that consistentand reliable performance.
It works very well for mostpart on high-speed data
transmission.
So you get to gigabit or 10GEthernet cable and it's also a
very cost-effectiveimplementation.
Okay, because the standardhardware that's out there
(04:48):
creates a competitive market forthose manufacturers and thus
lowers your cost.
Again, very scalable veryscalable on site-wide locations
as well as as you startfuture-proofing and start
thinking of how you're going tomeet the future standards of
your process and control.
Ethernet brings that.
Now.
There's four primary networklevels.
(05:09):
We just want to just kind ofoverview with them for you right
now to help you understand howEthernet connects to your
factory floor.
And once you understand thesefour levels, their distinct
functions, it may help younavigate this even more
seamlessly.
So the first one is your ERPlevel, that's Enterprise
(05:31):
Resource Planning.
Most people call it ERP.
That's your business layer.
This manages the supply chain,the inventory, the finance, the
customer orders, all that stuff.
This is your aggregatingproduction data together from
like an MES or a SCADA system.
And Ethernet, right at thislevel, allows real-time data
flow from the factory floor tothe business system.
(05:52):
That's the big thing to thebusiness system.
Okay.
Now if you move down a layer,you have your MES or your SCADA.
Okay, this is manufacturingexecution system.
Okay, or thesupervisor-controlled SCADA
system.
This is your management layer.
So this helps you trackmaterials, ensures compliance,
helps you optimize yourproduction processes.
(06:15):
The SCADA component brings inmonitoring for your plant
operations, alarms, equipmentperformance You'll hear a lot of
that stuff at this level.
And Ethernet, again, right here, the high-speed capability and
connectivity of it ensuresreal-time communication for this
level.
So now, again, if this is alevel that you need help with,
(06:36):
we have experts that can work atthis level.
If you drop down another one,you have your control level.
This is your PLC, hmi, theautomation level layer.
Rather, lots of listeners outthere are probably comfortable
with this level.
This is where you get your PLCs, your programmable logical
controllers.
There you have your HMIs foryour human machine interfaces,
(06:56):
for the operator dashboard, forequipment monitoring, directly
connecting right there.
And again, ethernet has a greatstand right here to help keep
those controllers and high levelsystems connected.
And then, at the final layer,you have your field system.
Okay, your field level.
These are your sensors, youractuators, this is typically
called the device layer as well,and these devices that are out
(07:20):
there on a plant floor, and Ihave to tell you, this is the
layer that's probably growingthe most, because you have more
and more devices that arecommunicating on this level,
with these features rather, andyou'll be able to pull in that
data Lots of times.
This is low latencycommunication type of devices.
And, again, industrial Ethernetis very, very reliable, right
(07:42):
here, and all these thingsconnect a unified network and
eliminates any places where youhave data silos, where you have
a lot of data but you only haveit in that system.
No, we don't want to live thatworld anymore.
If we have data, we want toaccess it, no matter where we're
at.
If we have data, we want toaccess it, no matter where we're
at.
Ok, now then you have differenttopologies when you start
(08:03):
working and configuring anEthernet network.
Ok, high level overview, righthere.
Again, we're just going totouch on it.
If you have questions on whichone is you have, or you want to
have a better understanding, wehave experts, again, all staff
that can come right in and helpyou directly connect with you,
with your team, plug into yournetwork and help you have a
better understanding.
(08:23):
So, to start off with, you havea star type of topology, okay,
and that sets up devices in aswitch.
You have kind of like a centralhub.
It's very easy to troubleshoot,it's very high performing.
But a switch failure ifsomething fails, component level
fails, it can disrupt the wholenetwork.
So you have to just be aware ofthat.
It says these are all pros andcons, right.
(08:44):
Then you have a ring topology,so that's more of a circular
type of network that's set up.
It's very redundant.
You have that built-inredundancy because data can
travel in both directions if alink fails.
But it's more complex.
It's a complex configurationthat you've got to get set up.
Then you have a trunk topologyokay, or a bus you may have
heard it called a bus out therein the industrial manufacturing
(09:07):
world and devices share a singlecommunication backbone.
Simple to set up, it's aminimal cabling.
But there is limited bandwidthhere, okay, and there are
potential bottlenecks dependingon design and engineering.
So these are just again, justthree.
There's different, more thanjust three, but these are three
we see commonly.
(09:28):
I just want to let you knowabout those.
That way, if somebody says youknow ring or bust or trunk
topology, at least it's comeacross you before and it's not a
net new for you.
Okay, at least it's come acrossyou before and it's not a net
new for you.
Okay.
Now you'll also hear differentthings in this world.
You'll hear things talked aboutlike OSI model.
Okay, and what is OSI model?
(09:50):
Well, that's the Open SystemsInterconnection Model which
defines seven communicationlayers.
Now we just went through fouron the Ethernet level, but for
the OSI, that's model specific,it's a seven-layer OSI and
that's how you'll hear it oftentalked about.
Layer one's the physical.
That's your cabling.
That's the type of cable andhardware and switches and
(10:11):
routers and stuff like that thatyou use inside the industrial
manufacturing location.
Then layer two is your datalink.
This is your MAC addresses,your Ethernet frames.
You have your VLANs.
Layer three is your network.
This is your IP addressing.
Okay, routing communicationpaths.
Then you get to layer four,which is transport.
This is TCP protocols forreliable high data speed
(10:33):
transfer.
Layer five is your session.
This manages your connectionbetween applications Not used a
lot in industrial manufacturing,but it's there.
Then you layer six is yourpresentation.
This is your data formatting,encryption, compression.
And then layer seven isapplication.
This is your protocols.
This is where you get Ethernetor Profinet or wherever they are
(10:55):
right there.
It's just a good again for thisepisode.
Just to give you a high-leveltouchpoint.
If you've never heard the OSImodel before, we want to walk
through that.
There's lots of visualizationson OSI model.
Again, this is all part of ourSmart Manufacturing Guide.
Highly encourage you to gocheck that out.
If you want to dig more and tolean in with more resources here
(11:15):
, okay, and to lean in with moreresources here, okay.
Now you'll also hear differenttypes of communications
platforms out there, and acommon one that we see in
industrial manufacturing thatwe'll talk about for a minute is
Ethernet versus PROFINET.
Okay.
Now you could think likethere's a battle between the two
(11:36):
.
In some ways it is, but youneed to just understand they
both had their suitableapplication.
We just need to understand whatthey are and when you start
thinking about a protocolmanager, the Ethernet is an open
ODVA type of setup wherePROFINET is very specific to the
(11:59):
PROFIBUS and PROFINETInternational, and Ethernet is
less deterministic but it isimproving with time.
Sensitive networking.
Profinet is more deterministic,with real time capabilities.
They both have about 30 percentmarket share, so they're both
doing pretty well there.
And when you start thinkingabout the Ethernet, the network
(12:21):
type, it's fully Ethernet.
It's open standard, it's widelyadopted.
But if you look at Profinet, ituses Ethernet and field bus
components but it's preferredfor high-speed motion.
So that's really the things toconsider there.
Ethernet is more flexible andwidely used.
Profinet really excels inhigh-speed motion applications.
Again, your application isgoing to determine the standard
(12:44):
and the requirement.
But these are things you needto know.
So if you have a high-speedmotion application, you need to
understand what are yourrequirements for your process
before you start dialing in theprotocol, as it would be.
Then you have determinism.
Okay, because that's kind ofEthernet's biggest challenge.
And Ethernet isnon-deterministic, meaning
there's no guaranteed time framefor message delivery.
(13:07):
Okay, now this can beproblematic because if you have
real-time high-speedapplications, this could be
problematic, like robots ormotion control and what you can
do.
There's ways to work aroundthis with time-sensitive
networking.
Okay, this helps you improvereal-time performance by
prioritizing what the traffic isand where that traffic goes.
(13:28):
Then you have a SIP sync okay,you'll hear that that's just a
CIP sync, but usually it'scalled SIP sync.
It's IEEE 1588 to help yousynchronize motion control
applications.
All right.
And then Profinet RRT againreduces jitter and helps ensure
this high speed data consistency.
(13:49):
So these are just items again toconsider as you start thinking
about your network.
If you talk to Ethernet orsorry, network engineers, these
are some common types ofterminology that you want to be
aware of Then you also hear inthis world the word
interoperability.
So that's interoperability, nowthat ensures that devices from
(14:13):
different manufacturersCommunicate seamlessly.
The beauty of this is amanufacturer is someone who's
worked in distribution for myentire career.
This is a big deal, becausesometimes once you choose a path
, you're locked on that path.
Right, in manufacturing it hasbeen that way in the past.
(14:34):
Right, we've got this type ofequipment installed.
We've got to stay with it,because this is too hard to
change it over.
Totally get it Until you startthinking about items like
interoperability.
And when you start thinkingabout that, all of a sudden you
start getting freed up becauseyou're not so much tied to the
(14:54):
manufacturer as you are tied tothe communication standard.
See how that changes everythingthat helps you really scale out
your networks.
Again you can start thinkingabout a multi-vendor ecosystem
where you're not so bent andtied to one directly, and this
helps you when you startthinking about upgrades and
(15:15):
expansion and investment forprotection in the future.
This really opens it up as youstart the interoperability, as
the interoperability just hitsthe plant floor Now.
These are both open standardsPROFINET and Ethernet okay and
they allow for incrediblyefficient interoperability
(15:35):
across all devices.
So if you're looking at againRockwell, siemens, eaton, banner
, turd, gascao, all the bigplayers out there right, they
had these differentmanufacturers and they're
working with these differenttypes of Ethernet protocols and
this makes it very easy for youas the end user to pull that in
(15:57):
and try it without having to doa wholesale change on a lineup.
Right, and I'm telling you themore and more we've done on this
.
Ethernet is definitely thefuture of industrial
connectivity.
It's such a big deal.
It's a winning platform.
It's a platform we stand behind.
Smart manufacturing has beenbuilding the backbone of that
for such a long time.
It's scalable across all thedifferent layers.
(16:19):
It's flexible with thedifferent types of typologies to
meet the factory demands.
It's seamless for yourintegration Consider the OSI
model.
It helps you support real-timedeterminism and it's
interoperable as you startfuture-proofing investments.
And again, we want it for thisparticular episode to kind of
(16:43):
brush over with a high brush,but also to let you know we are
here, our teams are ready.
Again, our product managementand solution architecture I've
worked with solutionarchitecture for years in the
Carolinas.
Those guys are great, they'reincredible, they're brilliant.
I've worked for productmanagement teams for things like
(17:05):
forever at EECO and they justkeep getting better.
They're individuals who arelocked in.
They love their craft, theylove technology, they love
asking questions, coming alongside by side, and they help you
learn and grow.
So again, that expertise issitting right here within ECO.
(17:25):
So if you're within an ECObranch location and you want
help here, reach out.
We have ways.
Well, again, put links righthere in the show notes as well
as the video links so you couldgo schedule time directly, you
could call them directly.
You'll be able to.
We want to make it extremelyeasy for you to connect with the
resource and the team that youneed to help answer your
(17:47):
questions.
Okay, whether it's just networkupgrades, just general
troubleshooting, or if you'remore interested and you want to
sit down and do some long-termfuture planning, we're here,
we're ready to help you navigatethis.
Just do not want you to feellike you're out here on an
island by yourself and all youhave is your mouse and your
keyboard.
No, let us come alongside ofyou.
(18:09):
We have lots of tools andresources so far scanning your
network, giving you a betterunderstanding of your network,
better understanding yourvulnerabilities, better
understanding your capabilities,better understanding where you
should consider for futureinvestments, just laying out
that roadmap for smartmanufacturing.
This is what we do.
We take this very seriously andwe've made the investment with
(18:30):
the experts, with the team, withthe equipment, and we're here
to help you.
All right.
So love, love, love to supportyou Again.
Check out the show notes, thelinks, all that stuff to get
connected with us and share thisstuff out Again.
This was a high-levelconversation today, but this
helped you.
It may help someone else.
So if you have a fellow personthat's working in manufacturing,
(18:52):
or maybe ENI technician ormaybe even procurement, you just
want to get a betterunderstanding of some of the
high-level terminology, sharethis out.
This is what we do this for,okay, so again, head over to
ecoonlinecom.
Get connected, get your accountset up as well.
Get that online account set upso that you can log in to our
system.
(19:12):
You can see exactly what wehave in stock.
You can check in pricing,availability, you can get all
the different types of cutsheets and all the information
that you need up front allwithin our system.
So get your account set uptoday.
We've had lots of conversationsand talks and videos about how
to do that in the past.
Go back and check all that stuffout on Eco, ask why that's
(19:32):
where we have all that stuffthere for.
So get that set up.
And then go visit a branch.
We have these labs set up inVirginia and the Carolinas all
set up.
So if you want to come in andget your hands on and start
playing with devices maybe youhave a new drive system and you
want to have a betterunderstanding of integration
come to the lab and let us playwith you.
(19:53):
We'll come alongside, we'llboot it up, we'll show you how
to get it started.
We'll help you configure.
This is what we do.
This is what we do.
This is what we love.
We love playing with thetechnology and coming alongside
and building your confidence,because as your confidence grows
up in the technology that youinstall, man, you could do so
much more incredible things outthere, but we know it can be
daunting, it can be intimidating, it can be scary.
(20:16):
It just makes it.
It can be scary out there.
You don't want to be the onewho puts in a piece of equipment
Next thing you know when itdoesn't perform the way you
desired.
We want to help you prevent allthat stuff.
Okay, and that is what oursolution architecture and our
product management teams do.
All right, so thank you so muchfor listening.
If you would give us a ratingand review, that just helps push
(20:37):
the podcast out there Again,you can connect with us on
LinkedIn.
We're a very heavy presence onLinkedIn.
If you would rather connectthere, follow our YouTube
channel.
We try to put stuff out thereon a very consistent basis.
But mainly, we want to get youconnected at Eco Online.
That's where we can serve youthe most.
That's where we can help youwith our product offerings, our
solutions, our teams, and we'dlove to connect with you there.
(20:57):
That's Ecoonlinecom.
All right, thank you so muchfor listening.
Love hanging out with you againthis month.
Have a great day and rememberto keep asking why, redefining
the expectations of anelectrical distributor by
(21:19):
placing people and ideas beforeproducts.
Please subscribe and share withyour colleagues and friends.
Also leave comments, feedbackand any new topics that you
would like to hear.
To learn more or to share yourinsights, visit EECOASKSWHYCOM.
That's EECOASKSWHYCOMA-S-K-S-W-H-Y dot com.
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