Fieldbus Foundation Celebrates 20 Years!

© 1999 - 2014 Fieldbus Foundation

Fieldbus Foundation


• Fieldbus Foundation has reached many major milestones over the last 20 years• FOUNDATION™ fieldbus has an accelerating rate of global adoption• Major installations are found in the oil & gas, petrochemical, power,

paper, pharmaceutical and consumer goods industries• Sales of fieldbus-based products are a growing portion of automation

industry business

Two Decades of Progress


• Path to developing FOUNDATION fieldbus technology originally began in the 1970s• Control system suppliers attempted to distribute automation

functionality to the field• Introduction of the Distributed Control System

(DCS) allowed distribution of intelligent controlthroughout industrial plants

Origins of the Technology


• Controls manufacturers, end users, academic institutions and others collaborated on an international, interoperablefieldbus standard• Open digital communication protocol for field devices was needed

to replace competing, proprietary solutions• Fieldbus Foundation was established in 1994, leading to

unprecedented levels ofsystem and deviceinteroperability forprocess automation

Origins of the Technology (Cont’d)


• FOUNDATION fieldbus provides a managed, fully-integrated automation infrastructure for operational excellence• View plant operations in high definition• Manage information effectively• Optimize people, processes and technology

Reasons for Industry Adoption


• FOUNDATION fieldbus solution enables a new level of asset management effectiveness• Reduce operating costs• Drive a new level of business performance

Reasons for Industry Adoption (Cont’d)


• FOUNDATION fieldbus accounted for approximately 74% of the total process fieldbus market in 2011• Total sales of $1.3 billion USD• Growing faster than the overall control and instrumentation market

Growth of the Market


• Fieldbus Foundation has now tested and registered 577 unique fieldbus products, with more than 900 total registrations• Approximately 2 million field devices now in service• More than 20,000 systems installed worldwide

Growth of the Market (Cont’d)


• FOUNDATION technology has become the all-digital standard for major Greenfield and modernization projects

• Reliance Jamnagar Refinery

• Shanghai SECCO Refinery

• CSPC Nanhai Refinery

• NAM Groningen Gas Field

• Shell Pearl GTL

• Drax Power Plant

Growth of the Market (Cont’d)


Usability Project• Make digital fieldbus solutions easier to use than conventional

analog systems• Enable plant owners to focus on what technology can do for them and

their business, versus how it is managed• Simplify development of new

fieldbus-based productsand applications

Latest Initiatives


Field Device Integration (FDI)• Leading industry organizations are seeking a unified approach to FDI

for simple and complex devices• FDI solution encompasses tasks ranging from device configuration to

commissioning, diagnosticsand calibration

• FDI Cooperation specificationand developer tools arenow available

Latest Initiatives (Cont’d)


FOUNDATION for Safety Instrumented Functions (SIF)• Extends fieldbus benefits into plant safety systems• Meets the requirements of IEC 61508 for functional safety of

electrical, electronic and programmable electronic safety-related systems up to SIL 3

• Supports systems per IEC 61511, covering SIF functional safety in the process industries



FOUNDATION for Remote Operations Management (ROM)• Established a single digital infrastructure for asset management in

remote applications• Enables fieldbus connectivity to remote I/O and the leading industrial

wireless protocols, including WirelessHART® and ISA 100.11a• Provides interface to wireless technologies using EDDL and function

blocks for interoperabilitywith ROM devices



Greater Support for the Automation Industry• Fieldbus Foundation and HART Communication Foundation have

entered into discussions on a potential merger• Single industry foundation would meet the needs of intelligent device

communications in the world of process automation• Combined resources would

provide significant benefits toboth automation end usersand suppliers

Looking to the Future