The 1 types · side-by-side
Distributor-facing reading. Each row gives best-for, key trade-off, capacity, price band, and how many of SPC's tier slots carry an option at that product type.
Product type
Best for
Key trade-off
Typical capacity
Price band
Brands SPC carries
IO-Link Valve Terminal Smart manifold · fieldbus gateway · per-valve diagnostics
The IIoT pivot point — diagnostics + wiring collapse.Predictive-maintenance programs, smart-factory rollouts, MES / SCADA integration. Streams per-valve cycle counts, coil currents, supply voltage, manifold temperature, and (where integrated) downstream pressure back to the PLC over one fieldbus cable instead of 32 wires for a 16-valve machine.
Protocol-specific · not safety-ratedGateway firmware is locked to one fieldbus (EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, EtherCAT, etc.) — a PROFINET unit cannot be reconfigured to EtherNet/IP in the field. Wrong-protocol orders are returns. NOT a substitute for safety-rated pneumatics in ISO 13849 PLd/PLe applications.
Up to ~32 stations · 20-30% spare plan
EtherNet/IP · PROFINET · EtherCAT · etc.
EtherNet/IP · PROFINET · EtherCAT · etc.
$$$
1 / 5 · SMC (EX600)
Reading the brand bench column — the bar shows how many of SPC's tier slots (Industry Leader · Emerging · Economical · adjacent) carry an option at that product type. SMC is the integrator default for the IO-Link gateway (EX600), a narrow bench where the technical requirement maps to a single anchor brand. The proportional pressure regulator is listed as a Product Type in this category without a curated comparison row yet.