Machine control vs. process

[JeffKiper 9]

First of all thanks for having such a great site. I have been in machine controls for 5 years and looking to move jobs. The company that I am talking to is process plant with (PID, instrumentation, & ect) What should I start learning first besides the process ?

[Guest]

what type of controllers do they use? ... since you've posted in the Allen-Bradley section, I'll assume (gosh I hate that word) that some flavor of AB is involved ... but is it PLC-5, or SLC-500, or ControlLogix, or ??? ... once we know the answer to that question, then we can give you some guidance ... case in point: it would be unwise to spend time and effort learning ControlLogix just because it's the latest and "greatest" - and then walk into a plant full of PLC-5 systems ... don't get me wrong, all knowledge is "good" - but it makes sense to concentrate your effort where it's most likely to be of immediate benefit ...

[JeffKiper 9]

Ron didn't think of posting that. most of my experience is in SLC. They have a little bit of everything 5,Flex, Control, Compact, SLC & MLX. I think that I have the SLC & MLX down OK. I have not done any PIDs yet.

[Taotaoba 0]

The most important skill for process I think is knowing how to tune up a PID loop. This is not an easy job. Hope the following link give you some hints. http://www.controlguru.com/pages/table.html