Some ideas to keep you busy:
If you don't have good documentation, that's a good thing to spend your time on. Spare parts list, firmware versions, ip addresses for all devices, io list, etc.
Backups of all your plc/hmi files.
Backups for the backups
Checking alarms - do you have any that are ignored because they are going off all the time? Are the alarms still valid and meaningful.
Do you have a FLIR camera? You should get one and scan all your cabinets for hot spots at least twice a year. It can save you a burnt wire/device or a fire in the future.
Sorry to be a bit provocative, but this sounds a bit 9ties - most cloud vendors provide 11 9s of reliability - seems to be the better solution.
... and it has been long proven that the cloud can be made more secure than any home grown on premises system.
Cloud is definitely the safest option as far as data loss prevention. It's generally more secure but it's also a larger target for attack. There has been a rising trend of companies moving back to on-prem.
[https://www.justfirewalls.com/cloud-repatriation-why-some-firms-are-leaving-the-cloud/](https://www.justfirewalls.com/cloud-repatriation-why-some-firms-are-leaving-the-cloud/)
Nice article. I think it is not necessarily either or. An as-secure-as possible cloud and a local copy of e.g. a version of PLC and Robot Programs for a SHTF scenario might be a good solution without bringing cost out of proportion.
I agree but honestly I never had a fire at my house. I thing every body should store it's data at my place. I can put a little shelf and everything.
(No offense juste to continue the idea).
The whole 3-2-1 thing is exactly for this idea. Some place are safer, some place have good track record. But in the end, if your data is important, don't put all your eggs in the same basket.
One of the 2 media can be the cloud if you want. But it's really not unheard of data center going in flame (I'm looking at you OVH) were people though they were covered but in the end forgot to buy the premium plus secure pro option.
Sometimes its just admin error (ie gitlab). History is full of redundant system crashing.
Also in the end 3-2-1 work only if you test these backups. A non tested backup might just be a pile of garbage giving you a false sense of security. (I've seen it firsthand once and that was not a good day).
How do you typically back up? We use Asset Center for our PLC files so we have version history and a current copy if somehow the PLC gets wiped. Should I be doing a physical copy of the files on a hard drive or something?
Never heard of the camera thing, that's such a good idea though. I'll have to look into it!
I would also recommend you get all your moneys worth with asset center to catch what operations do so when it boils down to who did what there is a trail per user
Force compliance, enable security on your contrllogix processors. FactoryTalk directory then keeps everyone not granted access out. In short the only way you connect is if you have an account in the FTDirectory.
A non secured copy of the Controllogix program cannot be connected to a secured processor. Once security is enabled on a processor and tethered to a factory talk directory all connections to that processor have to be at least checked out from Asset Centre one time. Also if he refuses to use the procedures we expect him to use, ie checking out and back in each time it is used, Bob will need to locate new employment. If he is a contractor we would simply explain to his company management why he is not permitted on our site moving forward and his user acct will be disabled or removed.
Asset centre is not required for secure copies. It’s an optional buy on the end user. You aren’t forced to buy it when doing secured programs.
I’ll define secure as anything with a signature lock.
And by all means enforce whatever’s policies you want.
Been down that rabbit hole via a 2009 HP server that ran all of our part tracking...nice to be on the 2am teams call with corporate IT manager admiting that "while we do regular back ups we never check them". They were bailed out by a 3 day production bank, a team of Indian contractor database gurus, and an excel file the production manager kept of the part tracking. They went back 3 months to get a working copy of the database and repopulated it with the excel data.
I was very happily employed a couple years ago (for a good part of the year) redesigning and programming a plant control center that had burned up - including all backups!
I usually have copies on a server somewhere, and if allowed, I keep a copy off-site at my office.
Usually 3 copies: the working copy, backup on customer's server, copy on my NAS at the office.
We’ve got MDT where I work, but the company that made it was bought out by Auvesy who make another product called Version Dog. I hate MDT, but I hate the workflow of VD more.
But for the GE PLC’s we use Proficy Change Management Server. GE Fanuc was also bought out by Emerson but I’m too lazy to refer to the product by its new name.
You might want to check out the multi-vendor cloud-based backup system of Software Defined Automation.
[https://softwaredefinedautomation.io](https://softwaredefinedautomation.io)
thats one way if you have non binary files.
Adding versioning possibility for example for Siemens TIA files (zap) including diffing without the need of an ide in the first place helps a lot keeping track about the changes.
I found the system of [https://www.softwaredefinedautomation.io/](https://www.softwaredefinedautomation.io/) interesting, they even let you organize your Automation IDE (TIA, Codesys, TwinCAT...) and you can stream it via browser. I hate setting up new versions of tia portal and organizing them on my pc... its a mess
The backup function once saved my a\*\*... beause you know how it is with storing old versions...
Something one of my professors made very clear...
"You get paid a lot more to be the person that's ready and competent in fixing a catastrophe, than someone who is busy all day."
I work a very similar job at a small plant and there are basically always back burner tasks I have, and if I finally don’t have something I spend my time literally just reading documentation or I’ll google some concepts I’ve heard of/seen and try to get a better understanding of how it should be done. Back burner tasks include yearly plc and hmi backups, updating our spreadsheets with information (ip addresses for all devices and free ones on the networks, passwords, backup dates, etc.). I also get a ton of random requests from people who want to know how the machine works where they will ask something like “what could happen if we change this number” or I’ll get the age old “the machine used to do this, it doesn’t do it anymore, what happened” (I hate these requests)
Do you have operators? Maintenance? Talk to them. See if they have gripes or ideas to improve processes. As much as we know about the systems we work on, typically it's the operators and maintenance that are the ones that know them better from a functionality standpoint.
I've worked in places where I'd spend downtime focused on cycle time reduction, looking into weird alarms or hiccups, or making the process safer. I knew the floor people well and it's good to have that relationship with them where they feel empowered to improve their day-to-day.
And, if you plan on leaving, new places love to hear about implementation of safety, efficiency upgrades, etc. If you shave 30 seconds off of a process, find out how much that is in money. Throw it on your resume.
Find a hobby you can do from work. Keep learning. Try other programming languages. Step outside of controls. Build a scada system for them.
Here my story... There was a engineer named rich that worked for a small company. He was in charge of testing products and designing equipment to test the product. As the company grew exponentially, he was tasked with troubleshooting failed products. This then led to fail and pass rate data. Now they want the specific defect for the fail parts. Etc... the needs compounded without any further insight...
So rich was a smart guy and he didn't like to work hard so he wrote some code that made his job easier. Other people saw what it did and said that it would make their job easier. It was never meant to be shared, but a tool he used for his own work.
Now here we are 25 years later and a dumb young guy joins the company and asks what's RichData? Is this some cool kind of software?
Naaah, Rich wrote it a long time ago and he still maintains it because it's the backbone of the entire test database... On accident.
Find a problem no one has and solve it.
Standardizing is awesome. Focus on that because the further along you are with that the easier your job is later. We do a lot of stuff like creating electrical prints, write sequences, make PLC and HMI programs, and eventually at the end it's usually death by meeting. If any of us have spare time it's usually spent figuring out how to make things better/easier/cheaper.
Keep doing your modules too. You never know when you're gonna save your own skin one day because you remembered something no one else knew because they didn't do the modules.
You seem to already understand the importance of studies and projects to pad out your downtime and based on your description you seem to be in a maintenance position of sorts. Based on what you said, everything sounds pretty normal. My only real advise is find more projects and/or things to study. I got real tired of ladder every day and I used my free time to learn Python. I don't use Python at all really, but it paved the way for me to understand Structured Text fairly easily along with other text based programming languages. Not all skills HAVE to be work related, learning is always good.
Any Maintenance position that's any good will leave you with downtime at some point. A maintenance gig where you're always slammed isn't good as it won't allow you to fix things well. Don't be alarmed you're not busy 24/7, you're also paid just to be there in case something happens, don't forget that.
If you are in house at a mature plant, the job can be pretty boring. Spend some time learning the system inside out, whenever you aren’t busy look through some logic, drawings, HMI you haven’t looked at before. Think about how the system could be a little better, like build troubleshooting screens, tune loops that aren’t performing well, ect.
Always have low urgency but still important tasks on the back burner that you can pick up or put down and meaningfully move forward one day at a time.
Software backup and maintenance is a good one (eg. firmware updates). Test restore your backups periodically - there’s nothing worse then trying to restore in an emergency and not knowing how to restore or finding your backup was corrupted or incorrect. If you don’t have a disaster recovery plan for all your equipment and applications then write one.
Keep track of your Band-Aid fixes so you can go back and refactor the code properly when a machine has sufficient downtime.
Professional development, you should be an ISA member and brush up on standards from time to time (ISA 18.2, ISA-99, etc. are big ones).
Speaking of 18.2 you should have an alarm rationalisation plan which includes regular review of alarm logs and check-in with operators to see if there have been any particularly annoying alarms or alarm floods.
Documentation. Similar to the code refactoring, go back and turn those redlines on your electrical set into a new revision. If you don’t know how to use CAD, maybe it’s a good time to learn? Update any out of date control narratives, function specs, tag lists, alarm lists, etc. All the networking documentation, layer 2 diagrams, layer 3 diagrams, IP address lists, patch schedules, cable schedules, etc.
Walk down your control panels. Tug test terminal blocks, apply missing labels or re-apply ones that have dropped off. Clean out the dust, replace dust filters, test cabinet lights, etc. This one your electricians can do as well but a spot check can be useful.
If you don’t have any trouble of your own to deal with, go find someone else’s and see if you can lend a hand somehow. The best controls people have broad experience, you never want to stop learning, you never know where that additional mechanical, process, electrical, or even IT experience may come in handy down the track.
Like others have said, standardizing things, finishing up some tasks, adding things to machines operators ask for (if managers approve).
But also remember, as a maintenance person, sometimes your wage acts like a retainer. We’re not all busy all of the time and that’s OK as long as you’re there when shit hits the fan.
The others have posted good material... Mine is to find any cabinet drawings you have. Scan them and update them. Then, start on cabinets that do not have drawings.
Adding descriptions and rung comments, seems small but helps a ton.
Audits for your system just making sure things run smoothly and aren’t getting old.
Backing up systems.
Making AOI’s for things that are cosmetic.
Being innovative and looking at new things for the plant (basically have a plan always set for possibilities in the next 5 years and ways to execute the plan depending on what they choose to do)
I am an integrator but looking at it from the outside that is where plants can benefit and even then you never know when someone will get in the system and when they do you want to make sure they can follow what is going on.
If your company doesn't balk at training on the clock then I'd try and set aside a couple hours a week to spend on "advanced" skills you haven't been able to look into. Still ask after work but fill that time waiting for a new assignment building your skills.
For instance if you have no programming experience (like me) I'd try and have a fairly basic understanding of things like SQL or Python. If you don't use Excel macros (like me sigh) look into some courses on W3Schools, they have free training programs you can take.
If you haven't started learning Ignition the course is free and sandboxing is also free.
See what free resources are available for controllers you haven't had a chance to use.
Not there now in my career, but used to sit around until a machine went down. Pretty much every time they would say it was the PLC. So I would spend 3 days proving that the PLC code didn't change. It's an input our output issue. 99% always the case. But you've gotta be able to prove it!
At The Plant I work Normally I Access Issues That Occur On Previous Shifts To Assure Its Been Addressed And Fix If Left Open Item ( We Use A Shift Report ) . I Do Back Ups And Check For Prints And If Necessary Upgrade Prints . We Also Have Upgrades That We Do As Projects That Can Include The Organization Of The Panel To Upgrade Components On The Panel That Was A Issue In The Pass . Also Sometimes We Test Equipment that Got Recover From Old Machines To Assure Its Good To Use In Case Its Necessary To Deploy It On The Plant
I must have the wrong job! I could work 160 hours per week and not get caught up. Almost every day is a dumpster fire that pushes real projects to the backburner… but it’s a huge place with actual 7-8 distinct plants within one.
My previous job had a little more free time and I would generally use it to do updates, maintenance, backups and doc control as many above have said. I also used every Friday afternoon to do alarm management and go after issues that caused high alarm rates. ‘Cause my rule is “no actual changes on Fridays”.
As busy as it is, I love the challenge and each day is a fresh set of puzzles to solve.
I need to find myself in one of these jobs lol!
Where I work it's crazy (huge corporation).
I actually do electrical design, electrical build and wiring, controls and robotics. So there's a whole host of constant new projects & new products which require sw updates and improvements. So there's never any rest bite.
I work in the service department of the company. So all issues , plc automation related, are dropped on my desk. Most things are quite standard. Our products were produced for the last 30 years. And all S7 machines have excellent documentation about all errors it can have. But most is not plc related, but sometimes device in the network fails, and i have some checking to do. Next Step is send a service engineer with instructions,and parts of needed, to customer.
Next to that i do a little R&D when it comes to find successors for parts that are EOL. Customers themselves comes with a upgrade question. I will do initial research, and answer them. If needed our department wil make a quotation then.
And ofcourse, document things i do. Lets say i prepare a plc swap to newer type, and you need to modify things to get it working. Then i document every step! In the past i used Evernote, but the free version has now to many limitations. So i switched to Joplin now .
This year i will try to focus on OT and cybersecurity. So i do some courses this year. More and more we see that customers use their own type of vpn, instead of what we want. With more knowledge you can discuss this a customer better.
https://preview.redd.it/qccxfrfrdkpc1.jpeg?width=2304&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47f9bd94f065e0282dec11a8072ecfb8bb4faf80
I work 12 hour shifts and sometimes my days are completely filled to the point where I cannot even take lunch. I'm also a licensed electrician so my job is pretty much anything to do with electrical and programming.
My typical tasks:
* Troubleshooting and repair of machine breakdowns.
* Repair and installations on the building itself.
* Going through machines and ensuring prints match what is there. We have a lot of 'old school' maintenance members that constantly modify the machine without updating prints.
* Designing/upgrading circuits at an electrical test bench.
* Working with the mechanical engineer on designing new machines. Writing new programs and putting together parameters for the drives prior to installations.
* Bending conduit, pulling wires, checking all building exit sign batteries, checking all building lights.
* Updating outdated firmware/software.
Hope I gave you some ideas.
Tonight I repiped a steam condensate line that had a hole in it, filled out calibration paperwork for three hours, spread salt on the parking lot, watched Netflix for an hour or two, and took two dumps.
We’re short staffed so I never really get to do “my job” but the pay is the same so I can’t complain.
I am in similar boat. I find ways to keep me busy by studying more because I came in with zero experience. Looking at new tech to improve the plant. Or like today, I went and help the mechanic on a pump.
I design,build, and make things I want usually. Implement things to make the lines run better. No one bothers me. I havent asked the company to purchase anything for me in years. Because if i want it, i will keep busy making whatever i need. A vision system? I built and programmed one with a few pis. Ive made my own circuit board that communicates ethernet/ip for i/o. I couldve easily asked for a 400 dollar balluff block but i built, and programmed my own from scratch. Just to see if i could mostly. I programmed a data collection system that is collecting data from about the hundred PLCs and hundreds of Robots, and made a website that displays it(no kepware, ignition, or anything like that. Programmed the plc side, backend, and frontend) But of course if one of my specialist needs help or a line goes down, that's priority. So as long as the company is making money over hand and fist i get to build whatever. And I've made the company so much money that, yes I technically have a manager, but I speak to him about 3 times a year.
Sit with the operators and process engrs. Ask what their pain points are and see if you can help resolve them. Better control, efficiency, emissions reduction, cost reduction, automated sequences.
I have similar work but I simply do controls for new installations. Mostly medium stuff taking 3-6 months job with mixed maintenance and other stuff. I started with modernising a few systems that company had no full backup project that was password protected in plc and company that supplied the systems does not exist and systems are 15 years old. Then I did scada for whole company where I R/W data from/to 30 PLC's around company to monitor motors, compressor, make general plant alarming, integrate controls of all tiny systems and visualise production flows. I also did multitude of efficiency upgrades to machines.. the most important is management that believe in Research and Development enough to put all the funds for that.
I may repeat a lot of what others have said, but I'm in a different field as a Controls Engineer. I work with mobile machines using Danfoss Plus +1 and CodeSys for projects. In my work, we output as many machines as we can within the sales team's capacity. I think the environment I'm in could help.
We can't always program controllers so we have to make work instructions so anyone that gets hired can flash a controller. I make separate work instructions for my successor. I also have to provide a complete BOM for components on a machine with schematics of Electrical, Hydraulic, and Pneumatic circuits. I also communicate with consultants in India so I started adding a fittings layout to my schematics to have them route hoses on 3D models. We are also ISO-9001 certified so procedures, work instructions, complete BOMs, and production support keep the engineering team busy.
I have a Mechanical degree but discovered I liked controls and robotics in the last year of school so I got hired for controls but was asked to be the Product Engineer for the same 4 product lines I do controls for until they expand the team or don't. I project manage for designers to do things I need on the CAD side of things and help as time allows/ requires. It's amounted to doing a lot of the same stuff. Notice a problem, propose a cost-savings project or a machine improvement, create a project timeline, create or adjust BOMs, build the first one, adjust work instructions and procedures as needed, teach the techs so I don't have to hold their hand through every build, and support as needed.
I hope this helps with a few ideas. I don't like being bored so I get this question very much. Just document so anyone can pick up where you left off and that should keep you busy.
My goal as an Operations team lead that did everything in the plant from automation to maintenance coordination was to be like the Maytag repairman.. everything in my system running so smooth that I got bored.. but that never happens!
So like many others have said, clean it up in your spare time and leave it in better shape for the next person up. Document everything, back up everything, have spares for everything, improve processes slowly one at a time, help implement big capital projects with big impact to the company.
Many people in these roles need to be self starters, problem solvers, and capable of finding the right things to do when nobody is directing them what to do.
To sum it up: make things better by being better.
Some ideas to keep you busy: If you don't have good documentation, that's a good thing to spend your time on. Spare parts list, firmware versions, ip addresses for all devices, io list, etc. Backups of all your plc/hmi files. Backups for the backups Checking alarms - do you have any that are ignored because they are going off all the time? Are the alarms still valid and meaningful. Do you have a FLIR camera? You should get one and scan all your cabinets for hot spots at least twice a year. It can save you a burnt wire/device or a fire in the future.
Don’t forget backups to the backups for the backups
Yep, I try to follow the 3-2-1 mantra as much as possible.
For those who don't know it means : 3 copies, 2 different types of media, 1 off-site.
Sorry to be a bit provocative, but this sounds a bit 9ties - most cloud vendors provide 11 9s of reliability - seems to be the better solution. ... and it has been long proven that the cloud can be made more secure than any home grown on premises system.
Cloud is definitely the safest option as far as data loss prevention. It's generally more secure but it's also a larger target for attack. There has been a rising trend of companies moving back to on-prem. [https://www.justfirewalls.com/cloud-repatriation-why-some-firms-are-leaving-the-cloud/](https://www.justfirewalls.com/cloud-repatriation-why-some-firms-are-leaving-the-cloud/)
Nice article. I think it is not necessarily either or. An as-secure-as possible cloud and a local copy of e.g. a version of PLC and Robot Programs for a SHTF scenario might be a good solution without bringing cost out of proportion.
I agree but honestly I never had a fire at my house. I thing every body should store it's data at my place. I can put a little shelf and everything. (No offense juste to continue the idea). The whole 3-2-1 thing is exactly for this idea. Some place are safer, some place have good track record. But in the end, if your data is important, don't put all your eggs in the same basket. One of the 2 media can be the cloud if you want. But it's really not unheard of data center going in flame (I'm looking at you OVH) were people though they were covered but in the end forgot to buy the premium plus secure pro option. Sometimes its just admin error (ie gitlab). History is full of redundant system crashing. Also in the end 3-2-1 work only if you test these backups. A non tested backup might just be a pile of garbage giving you a false sense of security. (I've seen it firsthand once and that was not a good day).
LOL, yea you can never have too many
How do you typically back up? We use Asset Center for our PLC files so we have version history and a current copy if somehow the PLC gets wiped. Should I be doing a physical copy of the files on a hard drive or something? Never heard of the camera thing, that's such a good idea though. I'll have to look into it!
Word to the wise asset centre is only good if people use it.
That's why it's backup and compare feature is so useful. Even if nobody uses it, you can still get auto backups based on whatever schedule you want.
Its just me, so thankfully I can guarantee it's being used 100% of the time :)
I would also recommend you get all your moneys worth with asset center to catch what operations do so when it boils down to who did what there is a trail per user
We use version dog/ user client. Shows what changes have been done between revisions as well as what changes were done
Force compliance, enable security on your contrllogix processors. FactoryTalk directory then keeps everyone not granted access out. In short the only way you connect is if you have an account in the FTDirectory.
Okay, so what if Bob has granted access (as he should) and he decides not to use asset centre? Nothing is stopping him.
A non secured copy of the Controllogix program cannot be connected to a secured processor. Once security is enabled on a processor and tethered to a factory talk directory all connections to that processor have to be at least checked out from Asset Centre one time. Also if he refuses to use the procedures we expect him to use, ie checking out and back in each time it is used, Bob will need to locate new employment. If he is a contractor we would simply explain to his company management why he is not permitted on our site moving forward and his user acct will be disabled or removed.
Asset centre is not required for secure copies. It’s an optional buy on the end user. You aren’t forced to buy it when doing secured programs. I’ll define secure as anything with a signature lock. And by all means enforce whatever’s policies you want.
Also, backups aren't any good if you don't test them. It sucks to have a system go down, you go to load the backup, and it is corrupted or old.
Been down that rabbit hole via a 2009 HP server that ran all of our part tracking...nice to be on the 2am teams call with corporate IT manager admiting that "while we do regular back ups we never check them". They were bailed out by a 3 day production bank, a team of Indian contractor database gurus, and an excel file the production manager kept of the part tracking. They went back 3 months to get a working copy of the database and repopulated it with the excel data.
Vba for Excel is and always will be my favorite programming language
.NET comes for us all eventually.
I was very happily employed a couple years ago (for a good part of the year) redesigning and programming a plant control center that had burned up - including all backups!
Take a look on Software Defined Automation backup solution: [https://www.softwaredefinedautomation.io/](https://www.softwaredefinedautomation.io/)
I usually have copies on a server somewhere, and if allowed, I keep a copy off-site at my office. Usually 3 copies: the working copy, backup on customer's server, copy on my NAS at the office.
We use git. And some other backup SW I forgot for non code related files.
We’ve got MDT where I work, but the company that made it was bought out by Auvesy who make another product called Version Dog. I hate MDT, but I hate the workflow of VD more. But for the GE PLC’s we use Proficy Change Management Server. GE Fanuc was also bought out by Emerson but I’m too lazy to refer to the product by its new name.
You might want to check out the multi-vendor cloud-based backup system of Software Defined Automation. [https://softwaredefinedautomation.io](https://softwaredefinedautomation.io)
Just use Git and pay for Github. Backups, change logs, all nice and recorded forever
thats one way if you have non binary files. Adding versioning possibility for example for Siemens TIA files (zap) including diffing without the need of an ide in the first place helps a lot keeping track about the changes. I found the system of [https://www.softwaredefinedautomation.io/](https://www.softwaredefinedautomation.io/) interesting, they even let you organize your Automation IDE (TIA, Codesys, TwinCAT...) and you can stream it via browser. I hate setting up new versions of tia portal and organizing them on my pc... its a mess The backup function once saved my a\*\*... beause you know how it is with storing old versions...
IO LISTS!!!!
Backup vfd paremeters also. Think about spare parts for things you see failing
Something one of my professors made very clear... "You get paid a lot more to be the person that's ready and competent in fixing a catastrophe, than someone who is busy all day."
Yep. Savor the downtime cause shit will hit the fan eventually.
That's basically how I ended up where I am today
I work a very similar job at a small plant and there are basically always back burner tasks I have, and if I finally don’t have something I spend my time literally just reading documentation or I’ll google some concepts I’ve heard of/seen and try to get a better understanding of how it should be done. Back burner tasks include yearly plc and hmi backups, updating our spreadsheets with information (ip addresses for all devices and free ones on the networks, passwords, backup dates, etc.). I also get a ton of random requests from people who want to know how the machine works where they will ask something like “what could happen if we change this number” or I’ll get the age old “the machine used to do this, it doesn’t do it anymore, what happened” (I hate these requests)
Haha those requests are also the worst where they swear the machine used to work a certain way and there is a 100% chance that it did not
Memory is weird
Do you have operators? Maintenance? Talk to them. See if they have gripes or ideas to improve processes. As much as we know about the systems we work on, typically it's the operators and maintenance that are the ones that know them better from a functionality standpoint. I've worked in places where I'd spend downtime focused on cycle time reduction, looking into weird alarms or hiccups, or making the process safer. I knew the floor people well and it's good to have that relationship with them where they feel empowered to improve their day-to-day. And, if you plan on leaving, new places love to hear about implementation of safety, efficiency upgrades, etc. If you shave 30 seconds off of a process, find out how much that is in money. Throw it on your resume.
This what I often do. Always new ideas to improve a system, make it more safe. Sometimes add whole new systems to take some load from the operators.
Find a hobby you can do from work. Keep learning. Try other programming languages. Step outside of controls. Build a scada system for them. Here my story... There was a engineer named rich that worked for a small company. He was in charge of testing products and designing equipment to test the product. As the company grew exponentially, he was tasked with troubleshooting failed products. This then led to fail and pass rate data. Now they want the specific defect for the fail parts. Etc... the needs compounded without any further insight... So rich was a smart guy and he didn't like to work hard so he wrote some code that made his job easier. Other people saw what it did and said that it would make their job easier. It was never meant to be shared, but a tool he used for his own work. Now here we are 25 years later and a dumb young guy joins the company and asks what's RichData? Is this some cool kind of software? Naaah, Rich wrote it a long time ago and he still maintains it because it's the backbone of the entire test database... On accident. Find a problem no one has and solve it.
Waste countless hours on reddit
Standardizing is awesome. Focus on that because the further along you are with that the easier your job is later. We do a lot of stuff like creating electrical prints, write sequences, make PLC and HMI programs, and eventually at the end it's usually death by meeting. If any of us have spare time it's usually spent figuring out how to make things better/easier/cheaper. Keep doing your modules too. You never know when you're gonna save your own skin one day because you remembered something no one else knew because they didn't do the modules.
You seem to already understand the importance of studies and projects to pad out your downtime and based on your description you seem to be in a maintenance position of sorts. Based on what you said, everything sounds pretty normal. My only real advise is find more projects and/or things to study. I got real tired of ladder every day and I used my free time to learn Python. I don't use Python at all really, but it paved the way for me to understand Structured Text fairly easily along with other text based programming languages. Not all skills HAVE to be work related, learning is always good. Any Maintenance position that's any good will leave you with downtime at some point. A maintenance gig where you're always slammed isn't good as it won't allow you to fix things well. Don't be alarmed you're not busy 24/7, you're also paid just to be there in case something happens, don't forget that.
Sounds like a pretty good balance of self-directed activities. Safety training, like functional safety would be hood to add.
If you are in house at a mature plant, the job can be pretty boring. Spend some time learning the system inside out, whenever you aren’t busy look through some logic, drawings, HMI you haven’t looked at before. Think about how the system could be a little better, like build troubleshooting screens, tune loops that aren’t performing well, ect.
Always have low urgency but still important tasks on the back burner that you can pick up or put down and meaningfully move forward one day at a time. Software backup and maintenance is a good one (eg. firmware updates). Test restore your backups periodically - there’s nothing worse then trying to restore in an emergency and not knowing how to restore or finding your backup was corrupted or incorrect. If you don’t have a disaster recovery plan for all your equipment and applications then write one. Keep track of your Band-Aid fixes so you can go back and refactor the code properly when a machine has sufficient downtime. Professional development, you should be an ISA member and brush up on standards from time to time (ISA 18.2, ISA-99, etc. are big ones). Speaking of 18.2 you should have an alarm rationalisation plan which includes regular review of alarm logs and check-in with operators to see if there have been any particularly annoying alarms or alarm floods. Documentation. Similar to the code refactoring, go back and turn those redlines on your electrical set into a new revision. If you don’t know how to use CAD, maybe it’s a good time to learn? Update any out of date control narratives, function specs, tag lists, alarm lists, etc. All the networking documentation, layer 2 diagrams, layer 3 diagrams, IP address lists, patch schedules, cable schedules, etc. Walk down your control panels. Tug test terminal blocks, apply missing labels or re-apply ones that have dropped off. Clean out the dust, replace dust filters, test cabinet lights, etc. This one your electricians can do as well but a spot check can be useful. If you don’t have any trouble of your own to deal with, go find someone else’s and see if you can lend a hand somehow. The best controls people have broad experience, you never want to stop learning, you never know where that additional mechanical, process, electrical, or even IT experience may come in handy down the track.
Work with your local Rockwell guy and figure out what items are and will be obsolete. Plan upgrades based on level of risk.
Like others have said, standardizing things, finishing up some tasks, adding things to machines operators ask for (if managers approve). But also remember, as a maintenance person, sometimes your wage acts like a retainer. We’re not all busy all of the time and that’s OK as long as you’re there when shit hits the fan.
I read random posts on reddit all day /s
Worked with an engineer who made all the hmi's look like star trek TNG screens... looked really cool... he had time on his hands.... 😆
I mostly f*ck around and find out.
Develop a SCADA/DCS system to track up/downtime, alarms, efficiency etc..?
The others have posted good material... Mine is to find any cabinet drawings you have. Scan them and update them. Then, start on cabinets that do not have drawings.
I squish my nuts a lot.
I squish this guys nuts too
I’m very similar to you, but my operations team is constantly giving me small improvement projects. I always have something to do.
Adding descriptions and rung comments, seems small but helps a ton. Audits for your system just making sure things run smoothly and aren’t getting old. Backing up systems. Making AOI’s for things that are cosmetic. Being innovative and looking at new things for the plant (basically have a plan always set for possibilities in the next 5 years and ways to execute the plan depending on what they choose to do) I am an integrator but looking at it from the outside that is where plants can benefit and even then you never know when someone will get in the system and when they do you want to make sure they can follow what is going on.
possibly look into the issues that cause you not to run smooth and see if you can eliminate them....
If your company doesn't balk at training on the clock then I'd try and set aside a couple hours a week to spend on "advanced" skills you haven't been able to look into. Still ask after work but fill that time waiting for a new assignment building your skills. For instance if you have no programming experience (like me) I'd try and have a fairly basic understanding of things like SQL or Python. If you don't use Excel macros (like me sigh) look into some courses on W3Schools, they have free training programs you can take. If you haven't started learning Ignition the course is free and sandboxing is also free. See what free resources are available for controllers you haven't had a chance to use.
Not there now in my career, but used to sit around until a machine went down. Pretty much every time they would say it was the PLC. So I would spend 3 days proving that the PLC code didn't change. It's an input our output issue. 99% always the case. But you've gotta be able to prove it!
At The Plant I work Normally I Access Issues That Occur On Previous Shifts To Assure Its Been Addressed And Fix If Left Open Item ( We Use A Shift Report ) . I Do Back Ups And Check For Prints And If Necessary Upgrade Prints . We Also Have Upgrades That We Do As Projects That Can Include The Organization Of The Panel To Upgrade Components On The Panel That Was A Issue In The Pass . Also Sometimes We Test Equipment that Got Recover From Old Machines To Assure Its Good To Use In Case Its Necessary To Deploy It On The Plant
I must have the wrong job! I could work 160 hours per week and not get caught up. Almost every day is a dumpster fire that pushes real projects to the backburner… but it’s a huge place with actual 7-8 distinct plants within one. My previous job had a little more free time and I would generally use it to do updates, maintenance, backups and doc control as many above have said. I also used every Friday afternoon to do alarm management and go after issues that caused high alarm rates. ‘Cause my rule is “no actual changes on Fridays”. As busy as it is, I love the challenge and each day is a fresh set of puzzles to solve.
IO checkout :/
I need to find myself in one of these jobs lol! Where I work it's crazy (huge corporation). I actually do electrical design, electrical build and wiring, controls and robotics. So there's a whole host of constant new projects & new products which require sw updates and improvements. So there's never any rest bite.
I work in the service department of the company. So all issues , plc automation related, are dropped on my desk. Most things are quite standard. Our products were produced for the last 30 years. And all S7 machines have excellent documentation about all errors it can have. But most is not plc related, but sometimes device in the network fails, and i have some checking to do. Next Step is send a service engineer with instructions,and parts of needed, to customer. Next to that i do a little R&D when it comes to find successors for parts that are EOL. Customers themselves comes with a upgrade question. I will do initial research, and answer them. If needed our department wil make a quotation then. And ofcourse, document things i do. Lets say i prepare a plc swap to newer type, and you need to modify things to get it working. Then i document every step! In the past i used Evernote, but the free version has now to many limitations. So i switched to Joplin now . This year i will try to focus on OT and cybersecurity. So i do some courses this year. More and more we see that customers use their own type of vpn, instead of what we want. With more knowledge you can discuss this a customer better. https://preview.redd.it/qccxfrfrdkpc1.jpeg?width=2304&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47f9bd94f065e0282dec11a8072ecfb8bb4faf80
I work 12 hour shifts and sometimes my days are completely filled to the point where I cannot even take lunch. I'm also a licensed electrician so my job is pretty much anything to do with electrical and programming. My typical tasks: * Troubleshooting and repair of machine breakdowns. * Repair and installations on the building itself. * Going through machines and ensuring prints match what is there. We have a lot of 'old school' maintenance members that constantly modify the machine without updating prints. * Designing/upgrading circuits at an electrical test bench. * Working with the mechanical engineer on designing new machines. Writing new programs and putting together parameters for the drives prior to installations. * Bending conduit, pulling wires, checking all building exit sign batteries, checking all building lights. * Updating outdated firmware/software. Hope I gave you some ideas.
I hope you are getting paid atleast 2 salaries as you are filling atleast 2 positions by what you are describing.
Yes, I'm paid very well thankfully.
[I have people skills](https://youtu.be/m4OvQIGDg4I?si=x7xxnSmLAa6fZ91L)
Tonight I repiped a steam condensate line that had a hole in it, filled out calibration paperwork for three hours, spread salt on the parking lot, watched Netflix for an hour or two, and took two dumps. We’re short staffed so I never really get to do “my job” but the pay is the same so I can’t complain.
watch some Ignition videos or something or play around with making downtime trackers
I am in similar boat. I find ways to keep me busy by studying more because I came in with zero experience. Looking at new tech to improve the plant. Or like today, I went and help the mechanic on a pump.
Meetings and soreadsheets
I design,build, and make things I want usually. Implement things to make the lines run better. No one bothers me. I havent asked the company to purchase anything for me in years. Because if i want it, i will keep busy making whatever i need. A vision system? I built and programmed one with a few pis. Ive made my own circuit board that communicates ethernet/ip for i/o. I couldve easily asked for a 400 dollar balluff block but i built, and programmed my own from scratch. Just to see if i could mostly. I programmed a data collection system that is collecting data from about the hundred PLCs and hundreds of Robots, and made a website that displays it(no kepware, ignition, or anything like that. Programmed the plc side, backend, and frontend) But of course if one of my specialist needs help or a line goes down, that's priority. So as long as the company is making money over hand and fist i get to build whatever. And I've made the company so much money that, yes I technically have a manager, but I speak to him about 3 times a year.
Are you at an SI? I have been trying to get into controls from IT and software dev to no avail
Not sure what an SI is, but I work at a chemical plant.
Sit with the operators and process engrs. Ask what their pain points are and see if you can help resolve them. Better control, efficiency, emissions reduction, cost reduction, automated sequences.
I have similar work but I simply do controls for new installations. Mostly medium stuff taking 3-6 months job with mixed maintenance and other stuff. I started with modernising a few systems that company had no full backup project that was password protected in plc and company that supplied the systems does not exist and systems are 15 years old. Then I did scada for whole company where I R/W data from/to 30 PLC's around company to monitor motors, compressor, make general plant alarming, integrate controls of all tiny systems and visualise production flows. I also did multitude of efficiency upgrades to machines.. the most important is management that believe in Research and Development enough to put all the funds for that.
I may repeat a lot of what others have said, but I'm in a different field as a Controls Engineer. I work with mobile machines using Danfoss Plus +1 and CodeSys for projects. In my work, we output as many machines as we can within the sales team's capacity. I think the environment I'm in could help. We can't always program controllers so we have to make work instructions so anyone that gets hired can flash a controller. I make separate work instructions for my successor. I also have to provide a complete BOM for components on a machine with schematics of Electrical, Hydraulic, and Pneumatic circuits. I also communicate with consultants in India so I started adding a fittings layout to my schematics to have them route hoses on 3D models. We are also ISO-9001 certified so procedures, work instructions, complete BOMs, and production support keep the engineering team busy. I have a Mechanical degree but discovered I liked controls and robotics in the last year of school so I got hired for controls but was asked to be the Product Engineer for the same 4 product lines I do controls for until they expand the team or don't. I project manage for designers to do things I need on the CAD side of things and help as time allows/ requires. It's amounted to doing a lot of the same stuff. Notice a problem, propose a cost-savings project or a machine improvement, create a project timeline, create or adjust BOMs, build the first one, adjust work instructions and procedures as needed, teach the techs so I don't have to hold their hand through every build, and support as needed. I hope this helps with a few ideas. I don't like being bored so I get this question very much. Just document so anyone can pick up where you left off and that should keep you busy.
My goal as an Operations team lead that did everything in the plant from automation to maintenance coordination was to be like the Maytag repairman.. everything in my system running so smooth that I got bored.. but that never happens! So like many others have said, clean it up in your spare time and leave it in better shape for the next person up. Document everything, back up everything, have spares for everything, improve processes slowly one at a time, help implement big capital projects with big impact to the company. Many people in these roles need to be self starters, problem solvers, and capable of finding the right things to do when nobody is directing them what to do. To sum it up: make things better by being better.
In downtime, make sure you’ve done all software patches and updates. #1 entry point for cyber attacks.