Why plc is required

Here are just ten of them. Both PLCs and PCs have come a long way since their humble beginnings but there is a big difference in how these distinct control options continue to evolve and this has significant implications for long term support.

The managed evolution of the PLC means that vendors can and do support their products over long periods of time, both in terms of hardware and software.

A user could install the very latest controller and have the application back up and running almost immediately. How would you even contemplate doing the same with a PC based solution? There are many industries where that level of support is not simply desirable but actually a baseline requirement.

There is talk in the water industry, for example, of framework suppliers having to be able to assure support of control systems for up to 20 years.

Of course the control hardware will change over that time but PLC users have the peace of mind of knowing that the software will always port to the latest controller.

The modern industrial PC provides a stable computing platform and it would be unfair to suggest that it locked-up and crashed with the unerring regularity of a desktop PC. However, it is not on equal terms with a PLC. The real time operating system that runs alongside Windows on a typical industrial PC has been designed to try to provide the same level of robustness as you get from a PLC CPU.

If a PC operated in complete isolation, perhaps that would be the end of the reliability debate. Will the drivers for all of these products have been tested in combination and thoroughly proved? It seems unlikely. Clashes can and do occur and problems can be exacerbated every time those drivers are updated. It is almost inevitable, then, that an industrial PC will crash and what might that mean for the control process?

By contrast, when did you last hear of anyone needing to reboot a PLC after a software crash — probably never…. In such applications, the PLC represents a highly affordable solution, much more so than an equivalent PC-based system. The customisation potential of the PLC is enormous, with numerous ways to expand the functionality but all without ever leaving a common platform. In between, there are those applications that might start small, perhaps written in ladder but then grow as the application evolves — taking advantage of the scalability of the PLC platform — benefiting from the ability to write the control program in structured text and to drag and drop software function blocks that will take away much of the configuration effort.

Integration of other automation equipment. For many automation engineers, there is never any need to move outside the product portfolio of a single vendor, with suppliers such as Mitsubishi Electric able to address every requirement from HMIs, drives, servos, motion control, safety and robotics to low voltage power distribution products, power management meters and CNC systems.

Mader Electric stocks a wide selection of controls, including PLCs. We can provide the knowledge and expertise you need when it's time to make a selection. For more information about our PLCs or other controls, contact us today. Topics: control panels , wiring diagram , Generators.

At Mader Electric, our highly trained technical professionals' top priority is keeping your motor and control systems running efficiently. Contact Us. Hours 7am-5pm and any hour that you need us! Quick Links. Motor Repair. Pump Repair. Controls and Automation. Machine work and Custom Fabrication. Training Programs. Web Design and Inbound Marketing by Nextiny. Get in touch Send us a message. Posts by Author:. The input section or module connects with sensors, switches, control panels, and other input sources.

The output section or module can be a motor, lamp, solenoid, heater or another output device that is controlled by varying the input signals. The "brain" of the PLC that performs the programming instructions to process the input signals and control the output signals. Programming Device. Manufacturing cement involves mixing various raw materials in a kiln. The quality of these raw materials and their proportions significantly impact the quality of the final product. To ensure the use of the right quality and quantities of raw materials, the accuracy of data regarding such process variables is of the essence.

The PLC in particular, controls ball milling, coal kiln and shaft kiln. Other examples of PLC programming applications that are in use in various industries today include water tank quenching systems in the aerospace sector, filling machine control system in the food industry, — industrial batch washing machine control and closed loop textile shrinkage systems.

PLC is also used in the coal-fired boiler fan change-over system in hospitals, corrugation machine control system and silo feeding as well as injection moulding control systems in the plastic industry.

The programmable logic controllers at Mobile Automation includes a huge variety from various top industry manufacturers such as Allen-Bradley and Omron. All these can be put to various applications in key departments of your business to standardise the production process and increase your return on investment. Search for:. Skip to content Home About Us. These special computer devices are different from regular computers such as PCs or smartphones in that: 1.

A PLC performs only a single set or sequence of tasks, with greater reliability and performance, except when it is under real-time constraints.

This is in contrast to regular PCs and smartphones that are designed to execute any number of roles simultaneously within the Windows framework. It is low cost compared with other microcontroller systems. With other microcontroller systems however, you would have to change the hardware components too with different applications.