The ultra-fast EtherCAT developed by Beckhoff and presented at Hannover Messe 2003 has already been used successfully for 20 years and has long since established itself as an open, global standard for real-time Ethernet communication. In this video we talk to Hans and Johannes Beckhoff about the beginnings and milestones of the technology. Also learn why EtherCAT offers enough performance and innovation potential to handle at least the next 20 years of high-performance automation.