Welcome to Eco Ask why, a podcast that dives into industrial manufacturing topics and spotlights the heroes that keep America running. I'm your host, chris Granger, and on this podcast, we do not cover the latest features and benefits on products that come to market. Instead, we focus on advice and insight from the top minds of industry, because people and ideas will be how America remains number one in manufacturing in the world. Welcome to EECO Asks why. I'm your host, chris Granger. I'm looking forward to hanging out with you today. Thank you for listening to this episode and we're going to get right into it. We've been talking a lot recently about smart manufacturing and why that's important, the benefits of modernization and how you can get started there, and we've reached a point in this conversation or at least just reflecting on the topic that we need to get down to the backbone. If we look at smart manufacturing, what connects all these pieces together? That brings us to this episode today, which is Ethernet. That really is the backbone for connectivity and we've seen the way technology has revolved and refined over time in smart manufacturing and connectivity is such a big piece of it. And Ethernet if we look at the last 10 years or so, that really has emerged as the dominant communication standard, particularly in industrial automation, and that's really what we're focusing on Now. You have scalability options with that. You have interoperability things that need to come into consideration, as well as just how adopted is the communication standard in general. Now, when you have Ethernet, we're going to look at things like the real-time data flow, how that ties into your predictive maintenance program as well as your system-wide integration. As well as your system-wide integration, because as you build your plan out, you need to have an understanding of the benefits of picking a certain standard protocol, for instance, and many manufacturers out there can feel like this transition is overwhelming because there's lots of terminologies, there's lots of protocols. It can get complex quick and I just want to encourage you, someone who is you know this is not my background in general. I have the electrical engineering background, but not really specific to network engineering, and I can tell you, after interviewing so many experts over the years on EcoASY on this topic, you can get in the 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 electrical equipment company of experts with our product management as well as with our solution architecture group that are ready to come in and to really boil it down and to simplify and help you apply the items that we're talking about today to your specific situation scenario. So I'd encourage you right now if this gets ahead of you and you feel like you know what I want to talk to someone about my install base, reach out. We'll have links and show notes, links and video notes, all that stuff connected so you can go directly and get plugged in with our team of experts that are on standby, on the ready and they have that wisdom. They have that knowledge to help you grow All right.

So let's start off by just thinking about why Ethernet in general. We just want to understand why why even go this route? Really, it comes in reliability. It's very reliable, it's very scalable and it's very cost effective because it's not like a proprietary field bus network. This is a universal standard that Ethernet brings and it gives you broad compatibility across lots of different devices and systems. So you don't have to really worry so much about the type of manufacturer that you lock in on, so long as they have that common communication protocol, and that's what it's all about. It helps you really start bringing the IIoT the industrial Internet of Things, to your platform and, hands down, it's the number one platform of choice. You have that global standardization, so IEEE 802.3 is maybe one that you'll hear about from time to time. That ensures that consistent and reliable performance. It works very well for most part on high-speed data transmission. So you get to gigabit or 10G Ethernet cable and it's also a very cost-effective implementation. Okay, because the standard hardware that's out there creates a competitive market for those manufacturers and thus lowers your cost. Again, very scalable very scalable on site-wide locations as well as as you start future-proofing and start thinking of how you're going to meet the future standards of your process and control.

Ethernet brings that. Now. There's four primary network levels. We just want to just kind of overview with them for you right now to help you understand how Ethernet connects to your factory floor. And once you understand these four levels, their distinct functions, it may help you navigate this even more seamlessly.

So the first one is your ERP level, that's Enterprise 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 aggregating production data together from like an MES or a SCADA system. And Ethernet, right at this level, allows real-time data flow from the factory floor to the business system. That's the big thing to the business system. Okay. Now if you move down a layer, you have your MES or your SCADA. Okay, this is manufacturing execution system. Okay, or the supervisor-controlled SCADA system. This is your management layer. So this helps you track materials, ensures compliance, helps you optimize your production processes.

The SCADA component brings in monitoring for your plant operations, alarms, equipment performance You'll hear a lot of that stuff at this level. And Ethernet, again, right here, the high-speed capability and connectivity of it ensures real-time communication for this level. So now, again, if this is a level that you need help with, we have experts that can work at this level. If you drop down another one, you have your control level. This is your PLC, hmi, the automation level layer. Rather, lots of listeners out there are probably comfortable with this level. This is where you get your PLCs, your programmable logical controllers. There you have your HMIs for your human machine interfaces, for the operator dashboard, for equipment monitoring, directly connecting right there. And again, ethernet has a great stand right here to help keep those controllers and high level systems connected.

And then, at the final layer, you have your field system. Okay, your field level. These are your sensors, your actuators, this is typically called the device layer as well, and these devices that are out there on a plant floor, and I have to tell you, this is the layer that's probably growing the most, because you have more and more devices that are communicating on this level, with these features rather, and you'll be able to pull in that data Lots of times. This is low latency communication type of devices. And, again, industrial Ethernet is very, very reliable, right here, and all these things connect a unified network and eliminates any places where you have data silos, where you have a lot of data but you only have it in that system. No, we don't want to live that world anymore. If we have data, we want to access it, no matter where we're at. If we have data, we want to access it, no matter where we're at.

Ok, now then you have different topologies when you start working and configuring an Ethernet network. Ok, high level overview, right here. Again, we're just going to touch on it. If you have questions on which one is you have, or you want to have a better understanding, we have experts, again, all staff that can come right in and help you directly connect with you, with your team, plug into your network and help you have a better understanding.

So, to start off with, you have a star type of topology, okay, and that sets up devices in a switch. You have kind of like a central hub. It's very easy to troubleshoot, it's very high performing. But a switch failure if something fails, component level fails, it can disrupt the whole network. So you have to just be aware of that. It says these are all pros and cons, right. 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-in redundancy because data can travel in both directions if a link fails. But it's more complex. It's a complex configuration that you've got to get set up.

Then you have a trunk topology okay, or a bus you may have heard it called a bus out there in the industrial manufacturing world and devices share a single communication backbone. Simple to set up, it's a minimal cabling. But there is limited bandwidth here, okay, and there are potential bottlenecks depending on design and engineering. So these are just again, just three. There's different, more than just three, but these are three we see commonly. I just want to let you know about those. That way, if somebody says you know ring or bust or trunk topology, at least it's come across you before and it's not a net new for you. Okay, at least it's come across you before and it's not a net new for you. Okay.

Now you'll also hear different things in this world. You'll hear things talked about like OSI model. Okay, and what is OSI model? Well, that's the Open Systems Interconnection Model which defines seven communication layers. Now we just went through four on 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 often talked about.

Layer one's the physical. That's your cabling. That's the type of cable and hardware and switches and routers and stuff like that that you use inside the industrial manufacturing location. Then layer two is your data link. This is your MAC addresses, your Ethernet frames. You have your VLANs. Layer three is your network. This is your IP addressing. Okay, routing communication paths. Then you get to layer four, which is transport. This is TCP protocols for reliable high data speed transfer. Layer five is your session. This manages your connection between applications Not used a lot in industrial manufacturing, but it's there. Then you layer six is your presentation. This is your data formatting, encryption, compression. And then layer seven is application. This is your protocols. This is where you get Ethernet or Profinet or wherever they are right there.

It's just a good again for this episode. Just to give you a high-level touchpoint. If you've never heard the OSI model before, we want to walk through that. There's lots of visualizations on OSI model. Again, this is all part of our Smart Manufacturing Guide. Highly encourage you to go check that out. If you want to dig more and to lean in with more resources here, okay, and to lean in with more resources here, okay.

Now you'll also hear different types of communications platforms out there, and a common one that we see in industrial manufacturing that we'll talk about for a minute is Ethernet versus PROFINET. Okay. Now you could think like there's a battle between the two. In some ways it is, but you need to just understand they both had their suitable application. We just need to understand what they are and when you start thinking about a protocol manager, the Ethernet is an open ODVA type of setup where PROFINET is very specific to the PROFIBUS and PROFINET International, and Ethernet is less deterministic but it is improving with time.

Sensitive networking. Profinet is more deterministic, with real time capabilities. They both have about 30 percent market share, so they're both doing pretty well there. And when you start thinking about the Ethernet, the network type, it's fully Ethernet. It's open standard, it's widely adopted. But if you look at Profinet, it uses Ethernet and field bus components but it's preferred for high-speed motion. So that's really the things to consider there. Ethernet is more flexible and widely used.

Profinet really excels in high-speed motion applications. Again, your application is going to determine the standard and the requirement. But these are things you need to know. So if you have a high-speed motion application, you need to understand what are your requirements for your process before you start dialing in the protocol, as it would be. Then you have determinism.

Okay, because that's kind of Ethernet's biggest challenge. And Ethernet is non-deterministic, meaning there's no guaranteed time frame for message delivery. Okay, now this can be problematic because if you have real-time high-speed applications, this could be problematic, like robots or motion control and what you can do. There's ways to work around this with time-sensitive networking. Okay, this helps you improve real-time performance by prioritizing what the traffic is and where that traffic goes. Then you have a SIP sync okay, you'll hear that that's just a CIP sync, but usually it's called SIP sync. It's IEEE 1588 to help you synchronize motion control applications. All right. And then Profinet RRT again reduces jitter and helps ensure this high speed data consistency.

So these are just items again to consider as you start thinking about your network. If you talk to Ethernet or sorry, network engineers, these are some common types of terminology that you want to be aware of Then you also hear in this world the word interoperability. So that's interoperability, now that ensures that devices from different manufacturers Communicate seamlessly. The beauty of this is a manufacturer is someone who's worked in distribution for my entire career. This is a big deal, because sometimes once you choose a path, you're locked on that path. Right, in manufacturing it has been that way in the past. Right, we've got this type of equipment installed. We've got to stay with it, because this is too hard to change it over. Totally get it Until you start thinking about items like interoperability.

And when you start thinking about that, all of a sudden you start getting freed up because you're not so much tied to the manufacturer as you are tied to the communication standard. See how that changes everything that helps you really scale out your networks. Again you can start thinking about a multi-vendor ecosystem where you're not so bent and tied to one directly, and this helps you when you start thinking about upgrades and expansion and investment for protection in the future. This really opens it up as you start the interoperability, as the interoperability just hits the plant floor Now. These are both open standards PROFINET and Ethernet okay and they allow for incredibly efficient interoperability across all devices. So if you're looking at again Rockwell, siemens, eaton, banner, turd, gascao, all the big players out there right, they had these different manufacturers and they're working with these different types of Ethernet protocols and this makes it very easy for you as the end user to pull that in and try it without having to do a wholesale change on a lineup. Right, and I'm telling you the more and more we've done on this.

Ethernet is definitely the future of industrial connectivity. It's such a big deal. It's a winning platform. It's a platform we stand behind. Smart manufacturing has been building the backbone of that for such a long time. It's scalable across all the different layers. It's flexible with the different types of typologies to meet the factory demands. It's seamless for your integration Consider the OSI model. It helps you support real-time determinism and it's interoperable as you start future-proofing investments.

And again, we want it for this particular episode to kind of brush over with a high brush, but also to let you know we are here, our teams are ready. Again, our product management and solution architecture I've worked with solution architecture for years in the Carolinas. Those guys are great, they're incredible, they're brilliant. I've worked for product management teams for things like forever at EECO and they just keep getting better. They're individuals who are locked in. They love their craft, they love technology, they love asking questions, coming along side by side, and they help you learn and grow. So again, that expertise is sitting right here within ECO.

So if you're within an ECO branch location and you want help here, reach out. We have ways. Well, again, put links right here in the show notes as well as the video links so you could go schedule time directly, you could call them directly. You'll be able to. We want to make it extremely easy for you to connect with the resource and the team that you need to help answer your questions.

Okay, whether it's just network upgrades, just general troubleshooting, or if you're more interested and you want to sit down and do some long-term future planning, we're here, we're ready to help you navigate this. Just do not want you to feel like you're out here on an island by yourself and all you have is your mouse and your keyboard. No, let us come alongside of you. We have lots of tools and resources so far scanning your network, giving you a better understanding of your network, better understanding your vulnerabilities, better understanding your capabilities, better understanding where you should consider for future investments, just laying out that roadmap for smart manufacturing. This is what we do. We take this very seriously and we've made the investment with the experts, with the team, with the equipment, and we're here to help you. All right. So love, love, love to support you Again.

Check out the show notes, the links, all that stuff to get connected with us and share this stuff out Again. This was a high-level conversation today, but this helped you. It may help someone else. So if you have a fellow person that's working in manufacturing, or maybe ENI technician or maybe even procurement, you just want to get a better understanding of some of the high-level terminology, share this out. This is what we do this for, okay, so again, head over to ecoonlinecom.

Get connected, get your account set up as well. Get that online account set up so that you can log in to our system. You can see exactly what we have in stock. You can check in pricing, availability, you can get all the different types of cut sheets and all the information that you need up front all within our system. So get your account set up today. We've had lots of conversations and talks and videos about how to do that in the past.

Go back and check all that stuff out on Eco, ask why that's where we have all that stuff there for. So get that set up. And then go visit a branch. We have these labs set up in Virginia and the Carolinas all set up. So if you want to come in and get your hands on and start playing with devices maybe you have a new drive system and you want to have a better understanding of integration come to the lab and let us play with you. We'll come alongside, we'll boot 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 the technology and coming alongside and building your confidence, because as your confidence grows up in the technology that you install, man, you could do so much more incredible things out there, but we know it can be daunting, it can be intimidating, it can be scary. It just makes it. It can be scary out there. You don't want to be the one who puts in a piece of equipment Next thing you know when it doesn't perform the way you desired. We want to help you prevent all that stuff. Okay, and that is what our solution architecture and our product management teams do. All right, so thank you so much for listening. If you would give us a rating and review, that just helps push the podcast out there Again, you can connect with us on LinkedIn.

We're a very heavy presence on LinkedIn. If you would rather connect there, follow our YouTube channel. We try to put stuff out there on a very consistent basis. But mainly, we want to get you connected at Eco Online. That's where we can serve you the most. That's where we can help you with our product offerings, our solutions, our teams, and we'd love to connect with you there. That's Ecoonlinecom. All right, thank you so much for listening. Love hanging out with you again this month. Have a great day and remember to keep asking why, redefining the expectations of an electrical distributor by placing people and ideas before products. Please subscribe and share with your colleagues and friends. Also leave comments, feedback and any new topics that you would like to hear. To learn more or to share your insights, visit EECOASKSWHYCOM. That's EECOASKSWHYCOM A-S-K-S-W-H-Y dot com.