As anyone who works in an industrial environment will know, keeping your processes running smoothly is absolutely key in terms of efficiency, profitability and output. This daily battle can never be ignored. Any industrial network cabling which is run through cable chains take a lot of abuse – they are worked hard around the clock which results in fragile cores, eventually leading to breakages. Regular testing to make sure they are functioning correctly is therefore essential. This testing can be time consuming and also a little like searching for a needle in a hay stack at times when trying to locate the exact location of the fault.
However, by arming yourself with the right diagnostics tools, the impact of this battle can be kept to a minimum in terms of both disruption and man hours spent. The range of Softing Industrial Automation diagnostics tools form a complete suite of solutions which deliver visibility across the network. Not only can faults be diagnosed on the factory floor with hand-held tools such as the PROFIBUS Tester 5, but they can also be anticipated and forecasted by using a static device such as the TH LINK PROFIBUS.
The PROFIBUS Tester 5 is a powerful diagnostic and troubleshooting tool for comprehensive testing of PROFIBUS segments during operation and can also be used for cable testing. The device is battery powered which guarantees maintenance and commissioning engineers the highest level of mobility in the field.
Test results are shown clearly and are easily understandable on the intuitive graphic display when the device is operated in stand-alone mode, and can be exported for extended analysis in PC mode.
The TH LINK PROFIBUS provides controller-independent access to PROFIBUS networks for plant operation and maintenance staff. The tool supports both network diagnostics applications and plant asset management applications. TH LINK PROFIBUS is easy to use and can be integrated without interfering with the operation of existing installations. It also integrates seamlessly with TH SCOPE to provide enhanced insight into the status of the entire factory and all its components at any one time.
TH SCOPE and TH LINK provide secure access to industrial networks for diagnostic purposes, independently of the controllers, engineering tools and control systems. Designed to meet the specific needs and requirements of maintenance engineering, the diagnostics products require no special IT or network knowledge. In addition to the PROFIBUS standard, the products also support EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP and PROFINET networks.
