PLC Vs DCS certificate

[1one]

Hello all,
I am one of the victim of the current economic situation and have been out of a job for the last two months. I have electrical engineering degree and a lil over two years of experience in electrical and instrumentation. I am interested in adding a course on my daily duty in addition to looking for a job. However, I have some difficulties in deciding what course to take; PLC or DCS. I don't have any experience in both of them but I thought I will take this opportunity to take the first step and sharp my tools to get a better position. Considering the current situation, which one do you think is more marketable?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
k

 

[itsmoked]

Totally depends on the places you'd expect to work. Use that as a guide.

If you have NO clue then do PLC as they are still far, far more ubiquitous than DCS.

Also DCS stuff is more dependent and unique to the particular DCS being used whereas with PLCs they all share a lot of common features.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[JLSeagull]

DCS programming (configuration) training is very expensive. Too many differences exist among the various systems. Retention is very poor if you do not immediately apply your training to a project on that system.

PLC training is transportable to the safety instrumented systems (SIS) activities. Learning about Safety Integrity Level calculations etc. and obtaining certification would be very helpful on a resume'.

 

[1one]

Thanks both for your replies. Just to give you more information about the program. The PLC program is for Allen-Bradley Contrologix system and the DCS program is for Emerson DeltaV system.

I have looked at the cost and for some reason DCS course are cheaper than the PLC. The PLC courses are $950 per course and I am required to take 5 courses to complete the program. However, I only need to take 3 courses for DCS system just to learn the programing and if I need the DCS certificate then I have to add two Safety instrumented system. Therefore the DCS certificate includes the SIS course where as the description for the PLC course does not mention anything about the Safety instrumented systems.


Thanks again.

K.

 

[desnov74]

1one

I took 2 PLC courses at a community college in 02 learning AB software and got my money back in no time. I agree that PLC's are the way to go.

1) They are easier to understand and more widely applied.
2) Some have many of the same functions as a DCS, so you'll get some background in control systems in general.
3) The comment about SIS systems is very true, learn about redundancy (TMR, etc)estops and all that good safety stuff.

 

[roydm]

I think you would be quite safe doing a DeltaV course as well. It's a popular system and who knows you might meet a prospective employer.
I would put DeltaV somewhere in the middle between a full blown DCS and PLC.
Roy

 

[dpc]

Unless you have a lead on some job requiring DCS training, I'd definitely go with PLC training. As mentioned by others, check local community colleges for classes.

I have found everything related to A-B PLCs to be overpriced - apparently this also includes their training classes.

With PLCs, just bear in mind that there are no industry standards related to PLCs - every vendor is free to do whatever they want, and often do. There are some common threads in applying them - just don't get too hung up with the specific syntax and jargon of one vendor. Although A-B is a good one to know because some industries buy virtually nothing else.

 

[JLSeagull]

Most current PLC programming languages comply with the IEC standard 61131.

 

[glowing]

PLC for sure. It gives you the base knowledge of structure both ladder logic and function block design. It is much broader...once you have the general concept to the flow of programming something, that can be adapeted to any system (there are so many different programming softwares out there).

Also, a company will generally NOT outsource for someone to maintain or program DCS, but promote senior people from within. They will however often let junior techs program and maintain smaller and stand-alone PLCs, so PLC training will look good on a resume. Once you have been at a company for a few years, have shown commitment to them and developing process understanding as well as compentancy, they will start bringing you into the DCS world and training you to their site specific sytem and standards.

 

[roydm]

I think by now the poster must have decided which to take.
How about some feedback
Which way did you go?
Any luck on the job front?
Roy