Any PLC engineers

[angelofmercy186]

Just wondering if any PLC engineers are on this forum. I'm currently doing a PLC module at college and enjoying it. Ive seen vacancies for PLC engineers but never for a trainee engineer so wondering how to get into a similar role.
any help would be appreciated.

 

[sbrown2]

What course is the module part of?

 

[Knobhead]

Of the people I know that do programming I don’t think any set off with the intension of the job. We all seemed to drift in to it, I was trained by one of our companies senior technicians and then finished up having to train him!

Most companies what you to have experience but don’t want to pay for formal training to provide that experience. The languages I know I’ve had to teach myself.

 

[The Ranger]

Of the people I know that do programming I don’t think any set off with the intension of the job. We all seemed to drift in to it, I was trained by one of our companies senior technicians and then finished up having to train him!

Most companies what you to have experience but don’t want to pay for formal training to provide that experience. The languages I know I’ve had to teach myself.

pretty much this all our machines are PLC i would say controlled but it's the wrong word! ermmmm interlocked we wouldn't take on someone that could only do PLC programming.

 

[Knobhead]

From my start with PLC’s I needed the ability to fault find. But it snowballed from there. Minor changes was the start, going on to write programs came about after an almighty argument with a plant manager. I got dropped in the mire from a great height. Talk about a steep learning curve!
But all the time my main task was “keep the place going!”

 

[sbrown2]

What ever course you are on you have to decide what level you want to be at in this sector. If, as I did, you are doing a module in electrical engineering then this is part of a group of skills you have. If you want to specialise in this sector ie become a control systems technician/engineer, applications engineer, process control engineer etc you will need to grow your skills. Ladder, statement list, function block, C I think etc are some of the languages. But you have to ask yourself do you want to fault find and do some minor changes as part of a maintenance role or make sure you have a greater understanding where you understand the mathematical permutations that are found in programs.

 

[angelofmercy186]

i'm currently doin a foundation degree in electrical and electronic engineering. the plc part is using ladder logic on allen bradley. havin not realy had any actual industrial experience, would it be worth enrolin on seperate courses for the different languages and programs used? of all the moduals ive done so far, plc's ive enjoyed and understood the most, so thinking seriously about taking this further. what would the average week be like for a PLC engineer?

 

[sbrown2]

talking and liasing with customers, creating prpoposals and quotations based on specifications etc, creating functional and diagrams and critical path analysis for process controls. our course would appear to have the basis for the mathematical basics required for a control systems engineer. Go for it!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Skyba]

talking and liasing with customers, creating prpoposals and quotations based on specifications etc, creating functional and diagrams and critical path analysis for process controls. our course would appear to have the basis for the mathematical basics required for a control systems engineer. Go for it!!!!!!!!!!!

Appologies for bumping a fairly old thread but I stumbled across this while doing to research.

I am an electrician in the process of completing my nvq3, I was previously a manager for a drilling company in the middle east and health issues ended in me returning to the uk and retraining as a spark and lately I have taken up my first long running role as an improver at a large project and have discovered that many of the older improves are very petty and childish and are complaining about my level of experience and my pay packet etc anyways this is irrelevant lol.

The drilling company unused to work for have begun a lot of micro tunnelling projects and are having their fair share of problems with their plc systems, from what they tell me they're running a Siemens programme, they have been in contact with me about plc systems which I'm clueless about but have been interested in learning.

Now I have noticed since starting my electrical courses that I'm far more gifted at the theory and mathematical side of the trade and seem to excel even to the point when I decided to do a home electrical engineering course (which I failed to complete due to time constraints and concentrating on the electrical installations as I saw it leading to work easier) and taking up electronics as a side hobby and experimenting with bread boards for fun
how would I go about getting into plc system's and would this be a fairly huge step for someone to take from a largely electrical installations background even though I'm schooled on the electronics side.
There could be a big opportunity for me to get out and work on plc systems but it would be a big move to make on a whim.

Could someone point me in the direction of some information on courses and what's involved.

Many thanks dan

 

[moospark]

Siemens are good at taking graduates without so much experience, they can afford to train, and then of course you do it their way, no harm in that. Interesting work, if on the design side, might be a bit of travel, but most jobs that want plc seem to be factory maintenence, for little, if any more than you would get for not spending the rest of your life in a dark grim factory plant.
Glad I'm not young,

 

[Guitarist]

All factory maintenance jobs involve PLC knowledge now, even if it's only at a fault-finding level. As an electrical engineer I was using a laptop every day to interrogate programs using various PLC software on large and expensive equipment, just as part of my job. I have trained at Siemens in Manchester as well as having attended numerous courses run in-house by several other Companies.
What was really frustrating was when a machinery upgrade/modification was needed, my firm would hire-in a "specialist" (as we couldn't be spared) at a cost of around £800 per day.
CBA with it all these days....