In Europe and North America the growth remains robust, but it has become even stronger in Asia: in this region it has reached 400 member companies. The worldwide acceptance, openness and success of the technology are not only underlined by the membership figures, but in particular by the exceptional variety of devices with an EtherCAT interface from numerous vendors. At the EtherCAT Technology Group booth at the SPS/IPC/Drives 2010 show in Nuremberg, Germany, 64 co-exhibitors showed over 260 different EtherCAT devices.

One of the eye-catchers at the booth was a world record in itself: the organization's multivendor drive demo was further enhanced and showed 35 different axes of motion from 22 vendors - operating synchronously on a single EtherCAT network.

Also unique was the master variety display: EtherCAT controls devices from 25 different vendors were shown in functioning demos. Meanwhile, the ETG counts over 100 different vendors with EtherCAT master implementations and over 80 vendors that support EtherCAT in their drive portfolio.

"There is no question today that EtherCAT is strongly accepted worldwide. Many of the world's most influential vendors support EtherCAT or are in the process of implementing it. These vendors who have yet to introduce an EtherCAT device don't discuss the issue in terms of ‘if' any more, but in terms of ‘when?' Judging by the strong and growing demand for EtherCAT-based technology, the world's end users are making sure that the answer is ‘soon!'" says Martin Rostan, Executive Director of the EtherCAT Technology Group.

The entire ETG company member roster can be viewed here: www.ethercat.org/members