With the release of their new joint specification, the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) and Profibus & Profinet International (PI) hope to offer easy interoperability between CC-Link IE and Profinet.

“The CLPA is pleased to be working with PI and our partners to offer support to end users who need this interoperability,” said Naomi Nakamura, global director of the CLPA.  The cooperation between CLPA and PI will directly help to make concepts such as Industry 4.0 a reality. Increased openness and accessibility is what our end users demanded, so we are pleased to be able to support them fully with this new specification.”

Over the past year, a working group that includes members from Hilscher, Molex and more has been drafting the specification to provide interoperability between the protocols. Development was guided by a white paper distributed in 2015. The specification focuses on the functionality of a "coupler" device that allows transparent communication between the two protocols.