NUREMBERG, Germany, July 17, 2024 – In June, the Semiconductor Technical Working Group of the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) met for the 25th time. The anniversary meeting, which took place at ETG member company Applied Materials in Santa Clara, California, was attended by over 70 people both in person and online. In addition to the regular work on profiles for the semiconductor industry, the group also took time to look back on the successes of the working group since it was founded in 2011.   And the results are impressive: Over 3,000 person-days have gone into participating in the 25 multi-day meetings to date. The result is over 75 profiles and draft profiles for the semiconductor industry. The task groups within the working group play a key role here, focusing on specific topics or profiles to efficiently drive forward development and implementation.   The Semi TWG, as the working group is known for short, is primarily made up of equipment suppliers and manufacturers of equipment ("tools") for semiconductor production. However, more and more equipment end users are now also taking part in the meetings. This enriches the group's work by providing valuable insights into practical applications, such as how chip manufacturers use data from certain actuators and sensors or what the exact system requirements are. In addition, feedback from end customers can be used to determine the success of the working group and to identify potential future requirements.   Florian Essler, who plays a leading role in the working group on behalf of the ETG, explains: "We founded the Semi TWG in 2011 to support all system and tool manufacturers and suppliers of semiconductor production components that use EtherCAT or offer products with EtherCAT. The focus of our work is on the development of semiconductor-specific device profiles, installation guidelines and device tests to meet the special requirements of the semiconductor industry. I attribute our continued success to the constructive atmosphere in the group: the efforts of each individual to use all their experience and expertise to draft specifications that benefit everyone involved."   The meetings of the Semi TWG take place alternately online and in person, and participation is open to all ETG members. Detailed information about the working group itself and past meetings can be found on the EtherCAT Technology Group website.   About EtherCAT Technology Group The EtherCAT Technology Group is an organization in which key user companies from various industries and leading automation suppliers join forces to support, promote and advance the EtherCAT technology. With over 7,700 members from 75 countries the EtherCAT Technology Group has become the largest fieldbus organization in the world. Founded in November 2003, it is also the fastest growing fieldbus organization.   About EtherCAT® EtherCAT is a Industrial Ethernet technology which stands for high-performance, low-cost, easy to use with a flexible topology. It was introduced in 2003 and has been an international IEC standard and a SEMI standard since 2007. EtherCAT is an open technology: anyone can implement or use it. For further information please see: www.ethercat.org.  

NUREMBERG, Germany, April 24, 2024 – The EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) now counts a total of 77.1 million EtherCAT nodes worldwide, with 18 million added in 2023 alone. As yet another example of the strong continued growth of EtherCAT, these figures are based on EtherCAT chips sold. To mark 20 years of EtherCAT, the ETG published node figures for the first time last year, which is why they are not yet included in most market studies.   "The number of new EtherCAT nodes added in 2023 is impressive. We had assumed that chip sales would fall drastically after the end of the semiconductor crisis, as everyone had stockpiled significantly more chips than were needed in the short term," explains Martin Rostan, Executive Director of the EtherCAT Technology Group. "In addition, the market as a whole cooled down last year. Nevertheless, EtherCAT growth continues without interruption."   The figure is based on the EtherCAT chips sold through the end of 2023 and does not include chips for individual I/O terminals. For example, an I/O station with 50 EtherCAT Bus Terminals only counts as a single node. Chips with multi-protocol capability are counted according to their EtherCAT use and are included proportionally. Of course, not every chip immediately becomes an EtherCAT device, but counting chips still leads to a more accurate total than other methods.   It might be convenient to think ETG overinflated these figures for marketing purposes, but that’s not the reality. On the contrary, the counting method is comparatively cautious to ensure the figures are very accurate.   The ETG was reluctant to publish node numbers until last year. One reason was that the number of devices based on FPGAs can only be estimated, in contrast to chip sales. These used to account for a higher proportion of implementations. In the figures now published, FPGAs only account for 10%, so that a certain amount of blurring here has no significant impact on the overall figure.   The EtherCAT Technology Group's membership figures also continue to grow. With over 7,600 member companies from 74 countries, the ETG remains the world's largest fieldbus user organization. Despite the current challenging economic conditions, membership growth has even accelerated in the past 12 months, with the ETG reporting over 500 new members in 2023.   About EtherCAT Technology Group The EtherCAT Technology Group is an organization in which key user companies from various industries and leading automation suppliers join forces to support, promote and advance the EtherCAT technology. With over 7,600 members from 74 countries the EtherCAT Technology Group has become one of the largest fieldbus organizations in the world. Founded in November 2003, it is also one of the fastest growing fieldbus organizations.   About EtherCAT® EtherCAT is the Industrial Ethernet technology which stands for high-performance, low-cost, easy to use with a flexible topology. It was introduced in 2003 and has been an international IEC standard and a SEMI standard since 2007. EtherCAT is an open technology: anyone can implement or use it. For further information please visit: www.ethercat.org.

NUREMBERG, Germany, May 2, 2023 – Membership in the EtherCAT Technology Group continues to grow during the 20th anniversary year of EtherCAT: recently, ETG surpassed the 7,000 member mark with the addition of Image Engineering. With more than 400 new members every year since 2014, the ETG is not only the largest fieldbus organization in the world, but also the fastest growing.   Based in Baltimore, Image Engineering designs, builds and integrates special effects systems for the world of live entertainment. They provide laser, atmospheric, lighting and pyrotechnic effects to clients ranging from NFL teams to artists such as Metallica, Lady Gaga, and BTS to create unforgettable visual experiences.   "At Image Engineering, we use EtherCAT to facilitate fast, reliable control of our special effects systems in permanent installation settings," said Shep Dick, Development Engineer at Image Engineering. "EtherCAT allows us to implement remote configuration of our equipment and real-time feedback which gives our control systems a huge advantage compared to traditional entertainment industry control protocols. In addition, Failsafe over EtherCAT allows us to incorporate the most important parts of our special effects units, the safety systems, into the same cabling and software we use for network control. The flexible topologies and interoperability of EtherCAT-based technologies give us the adaptability and reliability we need to efficiently integrate our special effects systems."   "EtherCAT has a very strong position in the entertainment industry, especially in the United States," added Martin Rostan, Executive Director of the EtherCAT Technology Group. "If you go to a show in Las Vegas, a big pop or rock concert, a festival or a theme park, you are very likely to encounter stage equipment and special effects systems controlled by EtherCAT."   About two-thirds of ETG member companies are manufacturers of EtherCAT devices, with users and universities making up the rest. According to the statutes, individuals are only accepted as honorary members.   When looking at the worldwide distribution of ETG member companies, the high distribution in Asia is particularly striking. More than 2,500 members come from China, Taiwan, Japan or and Korea. Overall, more than 40% of the members are from Asia. These figures show that EtherCAT technology has fully arrived in Asia.   The number of countries with ETG members also continues to increase. Recently ETG welcomed companies from Cyprus, Saudi Arabia and Oman, so ETG now has members from 72 countries.   Another milestone in ETG's success story occurred last year when membership in Europe alone exceeded 3,000.   The membership development reflects the spread and worldwide success of EtherCAT technology. It is largely due to the quality of the EtherCAT technology itself, but also to the comprehensive support and information offered by the ETG, to which members have unlimited access.   About EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG): The EtherCAT Technology Group is an organization in which key user companies from various industries and leading automation suppliers join forces to support, promote and advance the EtherCAT technology. With over 7.100 members from 72 countries the EtherCAT Technology Group is the largest fieldbus organization in the world. Founded in November 2003, it is also the fastest growing fieldbus organization.   About EtherCAT®: EtherCAT is the Industrial Ethernet technology which stands for high-performance, low-cost, easy to use with a flexible topology. It was introduced in 2003 and has been an international IEC standard and a SEMI standard since 2007. EtherCAT is an open technology: anyone can implement or use it. For further information please see: www.ethercat.org  

NUREMBERG, Germany, April 27, 2023 – For the first time since EtherCAT was introduced 20 years ago, the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) is publishing node figures. Excluding modular I/O devices, ETG counts 59.1 million nodes, with recent growth being particularly impressive. Since 2014, growth has been exponential, with 18.4 million nodes added in 2022 alone.   These figures include EtherCAT chips sold in a respective year, though this does not include the chips for I/O terminals. This means that a modular I/O station counts as a single node, even if it consists of many more EtherCAT terminals.   "The chip numbers are accurate figures, but there is a certain time lag: not every chip becomes an installed EtherCAT device in the same calendar year," said Martin Rostan, Executive Director of the ETG, on the counting method.   Rostan is also in charge of all EtherCAT licensing, on the behalf of Beckhoff Automation. EtherCAT, similar to CAN, requires only the chip manufacturer to license their hardware, so the cost is included in the purchase of the EtherCAT chips. Beckhoff finances the ETG with the chip license income, and membership in the world’s largest fieldbus association is free of charge as a result.   "Because we don't know the exact unit numbers of FPGA IP core-based implementations, we have held back on publishing node numbers so far," Rostan said. "But the reported unit numbers of the current 12 EtherCAT chip vendors are now so large that any possible fuzziness in estimating FPGA numbers is no longer a factor: they enter the totals at less than 10%. We have also included multiprotocol chips in proportion to the market share of the protocols. Thus, the figures are based on very reliable sources and they are determined very conservatively: there are probably significantly more EtherCAT devices."   Except for 2019, when the automation market’s turbulence also affected EtherCAT unit numbers, growth has been exponential for several years. "Three years ago, we still believed in an upward outlier, but now the trend has solidified: the exponential growth continues," added Rostan. "The Asian market is developing the fastest, especially in China. But EtherCAT is also making better and better progress in North America. And in Europe, where the technology has its origins, EtherCAT has been going strong for quite some time."   Learn more here: www.ethercat.org/images/press/etg_022023.jpg   About EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG): The EtherCAT Technology Group is an organization in which key user companies from various industries and leading automation suppliers join forces to support, promote and advance the EtherCAT technology. With over 7.100 members from 72 countries the EtherCAT Technology Group is the largest fieldbus organization in the world. Founded in November 2003, it is also the fastest growing fieldbus organization.    About EtherCAT®: EtherCAT is the Industrial Ethernet technology which stands for high-performance, low-cost, easy to use with a flexible topology. It was introduced in 2003 and has been an international IEC standard and a SEMI standard since 2007. EtherCAT is an open technology: anyone can implement or use it. Learn more at www.ethercat.org