Understanding Scan Cycles
PLC code starts making sense once you understand the scan cycle. This article breaks down how cyclic, interrupt, and event tasks interact, where async fits in, and why scan time,…
When to Hire a PLC Consultant vs Training Your Team
When should you hire a PLC consultant, and when is it better to train your own team? This article gives engineering managers a practical framework for weighing cost, timeline, risk,…
Siemens TIA Portal – Q&A Podcast – Episode 11
When you build reusable function blocks in TIA Portal, small workflow optimisations can make a massive difference to project speed and consistency. One of the most overlooked features is the…
Siemens TIA Portal – Q&A Podcast – Episode 10
When you build reusable function blocks in TIA Portal, small workflow optimisations can make a massive difference to project speed and consistency. One of the most overlooked features is the…
Siemens TIA Portal – Q&A Podcast – Episode 9
When you build reusable function blocks in TIA Portal, small workflow optimisations can make a massive difference to project speed and consistency. One of the most overlooked features is the…
Troubleshooting PLC Systems: A Systematic Approach to Finding Faults
Learn systematic PLC troubleshooting methods that work across all platforms. Stop random fixes and start solving faults efficiently with proven diagnostic techniques.
Siemens TIA Portal – Q&A Podcast – Episode 8
When you first notice that a PLC cycle time is jumping around, it can feel like something is wrong inside the controller. In reality, fluctuating scan time is a natural…
State Machines in PLC Programming: Designing Behaviour Instead of Logic
State machines are one of the most powerful yet misunderstood design patterns in PLC programming. Instead of building control logic around scattered conditions and boolean flags, state-based design focuses on…
Is It Worth Encrypting Your PLC Code? Know-How Protection in Industrial Automation
Engineering teams often implement PLC code protection without genuine need, creating operational headaches rather than security benefits. This article examines when know-how protection makes sense, the hidden costs of unnecessary…
Siemens TIA Portal – Q&A Podcast – Episode 7
When working in TIA Portal, the ANY and Variant data types can seem deceptively similar because both can accept almost anything you pass into a function block. However, once you…