In this paper, a counter-rotating slotted ring network is proposed to meet the communication requirements of a manufacturing plant. The network is required to carry real-time data traffic and real-time traffic generated by digitized voice and digitized video. In the design of the system, particular emphasis is placed on reliability and ring maintenance. To achieve this and compensate for the vulnerability of the ring topology, a novel intelligent transceiver unit is presented. The intelligent transceiver unit monitors the ring and automatically reconfigures the ring in the case of link or station failure. A prototype of this network has been implemented.