Hello from Scantime Automation & Training!

[Chris Simm]

Hi guys, thought i'd introduce myself as i've recently joined the forum on behalf of our company Scantime Automation and Training, hoping to help anyone who is working with or is looking to work with PLC Control Systems on the shop-floor!

My name is Chris and i'm a Controls Engineer as well as a Trainer inside of Scantime, our main bread and butter is providing PLC training to individuals who are looking to work with PLC's on the shop-floor as well as Electrical/Mechinical Engineers who are already working with PLC's but need professional training on how to work with them safely and efficiently. We also provide design services where we develop programs for companies to go into their control systems.

For those who aren't familiar with PLC's, PLC's are Programmable Logic Controllers which are used in Industrial Environments to reduce conventional panel wiring and provide automated control to systems, nowadays, where-ever there's machinery or a process, you're nearly garunteed to see a PLC being used somewhere!

With this in mind, it's now critical for those who are looking to work in Industry or to move up the ladder to have experience or at least background knowledge on PLC's and this is where we come in.

We've been providing training and design services for over 14 years and are now working with Jaguar Land Rover, Toyota, Hitachi etc., providing training to their engineers on the shop-floor and providing online training to individuals in over 40 countries worldwide.

To give you some background on myself, i'm 24 but i've been working with PLC's since the age of 15 and i'm now capable of working with Siemens, Mitsubishi, Omron, Allen Bradley, Keyence PLC's etc., i started work on the shop-floor at 18 with Scantime and have since installed and commissioned software at GE Aviation, OneSubsea, Schlumberger and some others all over the country, the majority of my work onsite has focussed around pressure testing, whether it's airplane wings or well-heads, and last year i began working in the training dept. whenever i wasn't onsite, providing hands-on training to individuals and companies.

I've joined this forum to hopefully shed some light on PLC's and answer any questions for those looking to get into the industry or if anyone has any questions about our training, i'd be more than happy to help as i know i've seen a few topics asking about our company so i thought it would be best to come directly from myself!

Looking forward to getting to know you all, Chris.

 

[The Ghost]

Hi and welcome. Most interesting. The programming, what type is it like Basic or what?

 

[telectrix]

if you can't fix it with a hammer, it's a PLC fault.

 

[Chris Simm]

Hi and welcome. Most interesting. The programming, what type is it like Basic or what?

PLC's can be programmed in a few variations, several are to the IEC 61131-3 standard, the most common language is Ladder Logic, the reason for this is because it's easy to read and use for those who are new to PLC's, as well as quicker to fault find in downtime situations!

Other languages are Function Block Diagrams, Statement List and Structure Text (Similar to C Programming)

 

[Chris Simm]

if you can't fix it with a hammer, it's a PLC fault.

If only i had a penny for how many times i've been told it's the PLC's fault

 

[SparkyChick]

Welcome to the forums

 

[Chris Simm]

Welcome to the forums

Thanks!

 

[Rpa07]

Welcome Chris, I hope some of the forum ask some questions so I can read the replies!
Is it more programming than plug and play, equal or not close?

 

[Specialist]

Hey Chris, Welcome to the Madhouse buddy . PLC's look like an interesting subject, good luck.

 

[Chris Simm]

Welcome Chris, I hope some of the forum ask some questions so I can read the replies!
Is it more programming than plug and play, equal or not close?

We're always willing to help people who have an interest in the subject! It's all programming, usually written through a PC or laptop and then downloaded to the PLC CPU.

 

[Chris Simm]

Hey Chris, Welcome to the Madhouse buddy . PLC's look like an interesting subject, good luck.

Thanks a lot, i'm sure there'll be some Electrical Engineers on the forum that will have some questions as they will have seen them on the shop-floor before.

 

[SparkyChick]

@Chris Simm ,

This is something I'm interested in adding to my service portfolio. In a previous life I was a software engineer and have worked on a SCADA system for my uncle who is a bit of a PLC whiz.

What's the best kit to start with from a budget perspective?

I don't want to have to buy lots of programming tools for say varying controllers from a single manufacturer. I'd like to buy one that covers their whole range, without breaking the bank.

Any suggestions?

 

[Chris Simm]

@Chris Simm ,

This is something I'm interested in adding to my service portfolio. In a previous life I was a software engineer and have worked on a SCADA system for my uncle who is a bit of a PLC whiz.

What's the best kit to start with from a budget perspective?

I don't want to have to buy lots of programming tools for say varying controllers from a single manufacturer. I'd like to buy one that covers their whole range, without breaking the bank.

Any suggestions?

Is this something you are looking to take on professionally or simply as a hobby, i notice you mentioned, service portfolio, so i believe it may be something you're looking to also provide?

 

[SparkyChick]

It would eventually be professionally, but I'm not one for diving in without sufficient hobby time tinkering

Let's put it this way, I have a few things I'd like to do around the house and a PLC is possibly a good solution. Sure I could use smart home technology from the likes of Gira, but that has limited scope beyond the home and I suspect would cost significantly more to achieve the same level of IO capabilities as say an off the shelf PLC.

 

[Chris Simm]

It would eventually be professionally, but I'm not one for diving in without sufficient hobby time tinkering

Let's put it this way, I have a few things I'd like to do around the house and a PLC is possibly a good solution. Sure I could use smart home technology from the likes of Gira, but that has limited scope beyond the home and I suspect would cost significantly more to achieve the same level of IO capabilities as say an off the shelf PLC.

That's great, the main cost with PLC's isn't really the hardware itself, but the software, for example, you can pickup a CPU for an S7-300 PLC for around £400 used however for a license of its software (STEP7 Professional), you're looking at £1500!

Now, for what you're talking about, you wouldn't need an S7-300 PLC and to be honest, if you are starting out by just doing some small things such as 'smart home technology', i would recommend starting off with an easier platform to work with, for example, an Omron CPM PLC (This is a compact PLC, with its own IO on its CPU) and is a great PLC to get started with and their tech support is also fantastic should you ever need it.

Now i don't want to come off as a salesman here, but with regards to learning how to program the PLC, we do provide several methods of learning this subject, with; online courses, hands-on courses and onsite courses for companies.

There are other ways to learn how to program PLCs, such as through Youtube however, we discourage the use of this just because of the amount of bad practice programming that we see on the shop-floor which has led to downtime and in some unfortunate cases, injuries to staff.

I understand you aren't looking to do this professionally yet but the best way to learn anything is by learning the right way to do it first time, so you don't have to break any bad habbits when learning professionally at a later stage, as mentioned before it's extremely important you stick to correct programming practices, just like you would when it comes to electrical wiring.

For what you're looking to do, i would recommend the online option at this stage which would allow you to learn from home or work at any time you want, we provide a course called the PLC Programming Series which consists of 3 modules and teaches you all about ladder logic programming to industrial standards, this is usually the first port of call for a lot of our students. The course is based around the Omron PLC, however what you learn on this course is universal to all PLC's, as the programming remains the same throughout other manufacturers it is only the hardware and software packages that change. Check out the course when you have some time, **link removed**

Hope i didn't come off as too 'salesman-like', we just see a lot of bad programming out there and we'd like to put a stop to it.

Have a great day!

 

[SparkyChick]

Thanks for the info.

Not too salesman like

I understand the perils bad programming represents (having worked with software for the emergency services amongst other things) and how hard it can be to break those habits once they are engrained. I've been writing software for over 30 years and have had to break habits myself and in others as their manager and yes it can be a real pain especially when switching platform from say desktop to embedded microcontroller based custom electronics.

I'll have a look at the on-line course when I get back from the job I'm about to go to.

Thanks again.

 

[Chris Simm]

Thanks for the info.

Not too salesman like

I understand the perils bad programming represents (having worked with software for the emergency services amongst other things) and how hard it can be to break those habits once they are engrained. I've been writing software for over 30 years and have had to break habits myself and in others as their manager and yes it can be a real pain especially when switching platform from say desktop to embedded microcontroller based custom electronics.

I'll have a look at the on-line course when I get back from the job I'm about to go to.

Thanks again.

No problem SparkyChick! Any questions about the course, let me know.

 

[telectrix]

why was this course not around 30 years ago. i'd have done it then.

 

[Chris Simm]

why was this course not around 30 years ago. i'd have done it then.

Never too late to learn new things

 

[telectrix]

Never too late to learn new things

but who would employ a 70 year old plc programmer?