Need Advise: Switching my skills from Beckhoff TwinCAT to some other product?

Dear Mates,

My name is Khan. I am 26 and in the mid age of my career. I am TWinCAT programmer, TWinCAT HMI (local/Web/Handheld) Developer via ADS, C# and ASP.Net Developer. However, after spending my time and brain programming and playing with TwinCAT I am not pleased to find out that skill set on this product is not much in demand as compared to other rival products like Siemens, Allen B., ABB, Honeywell etc.

I am looking for a sincere advise from people who are senior in this automation field. Shall I switch to some other product platform? And which platform is more promising globally from career point of view. I am worried for my career now.

Kindly advise, much appreciated. Thank you.

Best regards,

Khan

Dont switch, add.

Thanks TurpoUrpo, I appreciate your prompt response. Can you be more specific about the product I may invest my time and money into?

The more you know, the more demand you can fulfill. Learn all of the big players.... AB, Siemens, Omron, etc., but stay flexible by knowing more beyond the big players. There is no single product line that is the best fit for all scenarios. By knowing all of the options, you will not have to force fit a limited knowledge into a less than optimum solution.

Dear Mr. Archie,

Thank you. I think you are absolutely right. This is the right attitude I should acquire in my career to succeed.

Best regards,

Khan

The core of TWINCAT is IEC61131. This is the basis for many systems now so just because the particular flavor you are used to is Beckhoff, you really also know Bosch Rexroth and Wago and Eaton's X-Soft (all CoDeSys based platforms).

Even with systems that are not CoDeSys there are others based on IEC61131 that will be similar.

But it is never bad to learn more languages.

I also started in PLC's with TwinCAT. I understand that many European PLC's (except Siemens) also use CodeSys. Wago IO should be closest since they developed it jointly with Beckhoff. The only other PLC I have used is Allen-Bradley Contrologix. It seems like other PLC's have more legacy stuff like referring to variables via cryptic memory map addresses. I can only imagine how tedious original PLC's must have been to configure, with many pitfalls to mess up values. I expect that simple PLC's still have much of that.

My guess is that in Pakistan, Siemens is biggest, but perhaps Koyo and Fanuc too. However, Beckhoff is growing quickly in Asia, so you may find your skills in increasing demand. I would think that since Beckhoff PLC's are less expensive, higher performance, more flexible, and more modern would make them catch on in developing countries, especially since skilled engineers who can appreciate it are more available. However, if new plants are contracted out to western firms who apply "same old" with highly paid but non-degreed designers you won't see many Beckhoff PLC's.

check out www.3s-software.com they made the software for your beckhoff.
This IEC61131-3 becomes more important, and yes it is easy to learn, It is used in many PLC brands, even siemens does it.
If self employed, ask 3s for some contacts, and make yourself presentable on the forum.

It seems like other PLC's have more legacy stuff like referring to variables via cryptic memory map addresses. I can only imagine how tedious original PLC's must have been to configure, with many pitfalls to mess up values.

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No pretty pictures, just cryptic DOS stuff - wonderful!! I still program using numbers and not silly symbols - do it a lot faster than people using silly symbols too. Good for factory fiddlers. Not bashing factory fiddlers either - just want to get the job done as fast as possible, get paid and get on to the next job. Speed is paramount in my view and symbols are not fast!! Memory map addresses are good. Thankfully no more hand held programmers though - they were tedious.
Siemens are big in Europe, AB in the US, Mitsubishi very big in Asia hotly persued by Omron.
I understand Omron and Mitsubishi are doing quite well in the US as well. Mitsubishi in the car industry and Omron on the west coasts. They both also have good markets in parts on Europe.

It is not Twincat / Beckoff that is the problem here -
Definately increase your skills to aas larger range as possible.
Unfortunately every time I get a perfect application for a Beckoff system
we get told Lead time 6~8 weeks or more - so Beckoff misses out again.

THAT is the problem

iant said:

we get told Lead time 6~8 weeks or more - so Beckoff misses out again.

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Was true, but I recently ordered a large number of EtherCAT modules and most arrived in 1 week. My boss was very relieved since a few years ago Beckhoff kept slipping the EL3104 for a year until our company gave up. He took a lot of barbs from Purchasing over that order.

Trust Me, it is still true in Australia - the suppliers here need shooting