3-4 in Phoenix was optimistic, as leaders from the supplier-based group reported installed Profibus nodes up by about 20 percent—at more than 10 million—over last year. The technology is on track to hit 20 million nodes in another four years, organizers said. Profibus-enabled products continue to increase in number.
PTO执行董事迈克·布莱恩特（Mike Bryant）描述了如今许多营销主管面临的困境，是否继续在贸易展览会上展出或以其他方式投资这笔钱。该组织已在ISA博览会的前门内保留了一个大型展览区域，将于10月25日至27日在芝加哥的麦考密克广场举行。科比在一系列本地研讨会上报告了巨大的成功。参与者的共识似乎同意，与大型贸易展览相比，研讨会提供了更好的投资回报。
Todd Lucey, general manager of Endress+Hauser (www.us.endress.com), an instrumentation supplier with U.S. headquarters in Greenwood, Ind., presented the keynote address, and provided much food for thought. He has found that customers continue to demand more and more from their suppliers. No longer can an instrumentation supplier salesperson, for example, just present the latest products. People in the sales channel must become experts not only in their products but also in the industries they wish to sell into. They must help customers solve their unique problems and sometimes even help set up networks—even though they may only sell part of the system.
Profibus组织经历了繁忙的一年，这反映在该技术越来越多的接受度中。Profinet是Profibus的以太网实施，但仍处于S-Curve技术采用周期的前沿。凤凰城活动的支持者宣布，已经发布了120个Profinet产品，尽管到目前为止，大多数是来自一家公司（Siemens）（Siemens（www.sea.siemens.com）。一些与会者推测，该网络可能离建立临界质量还有两年的时间，但是领导者希望看到在今年年底之前提交的一系列产品进行一致性评估。
同时，空气产品和化学物质的戴夫·迪伯特（Dave Deibert）（www.airproducts.com），宾夕法尼亚州阿伦敦（Allentownwww.tva.gov），描述了对组件的成功profibus应用程序。
加里·明彻尔（Gary Mintchell）
