Ken Roach
Lifetime Supporting Member + Moderator
Twinsburg, Ohio is going to be heartbroken that they have moved overseas. They were really looking forward to the Michigan game.
Are Ohio and Wisconsin not American enough for you ?
All my ControlLogix controllers say "Made in U.S.A." on the sticker.
But then, when you get a job that does not require some heavy logic processing application and you spec your AB plc for a couple of thousands versus a TouchPLC from ez for less than 1 thousand with all the needed I/O. Who do you think is going to get the spec?
(...)
I'll stick with the american products personally.
I understand why you can think of them as Toys. Compared to someone who has hard speced allen bradley all their lives, EZPLCs will not stand a chance.
However, you should also consider the fact that pricewise, its much cheaper. The assumption here is that AB does not sell toys, which is completely true. I would be really upset if I bought a controllogix toy for a couple of thousands compared to an EZPLC for a couple of hundreds
Then there is the typical response "I'd rather drop a couple of thousands and buy my peace of mind" Okay, that is fine, you've worked with AB your whole life and you're comfortable with them. No problem there.
But then, when you get a job that does not require some heavy logic processing application and you spec your AB plc for a couple of thousands versus a TouchPLC from ez for less than 1 thousand with all the needed I/O. Who do you think is going to get the spec?
I've worked with the EZPLCs for over a year now. They run simple applications fine, they do what they are priced to do. You also do not pay for their customer support everytime you want to make a call. Their software is easy to use (compared to say, mitsubishi FX3U) and if all of this does not lure into their benefits. Then you should know they are made in BETTENDORF, IOWA, USA ! go look at your AB micrologix/compactlogix/controllogix, where does it say ? can you guess ? would you trade your peace of mind for bettering the economy of a country that does not even want success for your own ?
Bottom line is, EZHMIs are actually solid, they may have an issue here or there, but given the right troubleshooting they will run for years. EZAutomation is actually part of the original Struthers dunn company, founders of the PLC (or PCC back then it was called)
This does not however, explain the little issues people run into with the PLCs they sell. I agree that they need more quality work and I always disliked the layout of the EZPLCs but they are working on their quality, and they are doing that while also supporting this country's (USA) economy. This lay out is going to change next year by the way, just wait for the new product release and rate it based on your own experience.
I've ran into few issues with the EZTouchPLCs i got from them, but I called their tech support (multiple times) and they were eventually able to fix all my issues, they were very prompt too. It did not cost me a cent to call them but the minutes I used up on my cellphone. I did not need a $5000/year AB support license just to get rerouted all day.
At the end of all this, it is your choice if you would like to drop all that money for your peace of mind, and support another country's economy, or if you want to get out of your comfort zone and work out the hitches with their Techsupport and have the same application done while saving thousands and building a closer relationship to someone who is in your own continent. Like I said, it will require some work and that is fine, take this with a grain of salt.
All my respect to the people on this poll and their opinions, I'll stick with the american products personally.
Gee, three brand new members, all saying the same thing in an old thread. I wonder if aabuzant, Ian Nelson and Gestekoe are the same person or perhaps the EZ Automation marketing department.
On a side note...... Automation Direct was started by 2 GE Automation Engineers to support and resale the old GE Series 1 plc when GE decided to no longer support it.
Close - the history was a little more colorful:
http://about.automationdirect.com/who-we-are/company-overview.html
I'm not sure about all of them, but at least a few were ex-Texas Instruments guys. I think the same is true of Host Engineering.