Siemens or Omron?

[Gromit]

Hello,

Which of those two PLC manufacturers do you find more usefull.
I used to program Omron PLCs for about an year. Then I had to jump to the Siemens brand. Comparing them I find the Siemens programming more professional and heavy, in respect to Omron, which is more user friendly and intuitive.
For Siemens we have structures, arrays and the data memory can be very large (Mbytes).
Omron has a data memory max 512 kwords, no structures, no arrays. But you can program all your stuff in LAD only. No need to mix LAD and STL.
I can not decide which conception is smarter?

Regards

[davefinic]

Mitsubishi

[Gambrinus]

Structuring of data is very useful in big programs. I didn't work with Omron but from this point of view I prefer Siemens. And (it's my opinion) STL is more comfortable.

[Doug_Adam]

Since I use Siemens and have never used Omron, I have to say...
Siemens!

A few comments though,
People always keep telling me that to program Siemens effectively you have to use STL. Nearly all my programs in a Siemens use only ladder. This is done only to keep the program simple for the electricians, but is quite do-able.
Another point, it is up to you to structure your programs, and it can be done in an Omron. I have also had the un-pleasant job of trouble shooting and modifying a Siemens program written entirely in OB1, 140 networks with 85 jumps, and only a small amount of the program scanned each scan. You can write un-structured Siemens programs if you try.

[cradle]

Originally Posted by Gromit

Hello,

Which of those two PLC manufacturers do you find more usefull.
I used to program Omron PLCs for about an year. Then I had to jump to the Siemens brand. Comparing them I find the Siemens programming more professional and heavy, in respect to Omron, which is more user friendly and intuitive.
For Siemens we have structures, arrays and the data memory can be very large (Mbytes).
Omron has a data memory max 512 kwords, no structures, no arrays. But you can program all your stuff in LAD only. No need to mix LAD and STL.
I can not decide which conception is smarter?

Regards

GROMIT

FOR ME IT IS OMRON. IT EASY TO PROGRAM AND USERS FRIENDLY BUT ALSO TRY THE PANASONIC PLC. IT HAS A DOWNLOADABLE PROTOCOLS THAT CAN BE USED IN VISUAL BASIC


REGARDS,

DARWIN

[seppoalanen]

Simple, what is the total price? Structure etc. are secondary questions..

[Gambrinus]

Code structuring isn't a problem - it can be done in Omron too (I didn't work, but seen a little). But what with data structuring? I have a "pleasure" now to scroll long Schneider symbol table everytime when I want to look in it. But in Siemens I open required DB and look in it only.

[Gambrinus]

Of course. But another question is what is more popular in your market. In your country Omron is popular, I know. But in Latvia customer may say: "What is your Omron? Do you want to sell me some s..t?!" Or: "Siemens? Yes, I know. Siemens is good."

[burnerman]

I am not a fan of Siemens and STL at all but that may be down to my lack of experience with it.

It may be my imagination but I do see a lot more posts on this site of (sometimes very basic) programming problems and anomalies, e.g. timers data types, to do with Siemens than any other brand.

[Ken M]

People do seem to have a "Siemens = STL" mentality. I have frequently written FCs and FBs using Structured Text (so easy from a development point of view), and then, protect them and call them from LAD. No-one need ever know what's going on inside these blocks if they don't want to.

I've never yet had the need to write a program which uses all 5 IEC languages, but I know that with Siemens at least I can choose whichever of these I want. Plus they have a couple of extra non-IEC proprietary languages if they're not enough. Plenty of rope to hang yourself with!

Regards

Ken

[Leadfoot]

When I first looked at a Step 7 plc program, I was a bit confused. I was used to ladder like in early Omron and AB type plc's. As I read up and worked around some S7 guru's I was duly impressed with the POWER and CAPABILITIES in them. I watched one engineer do some code and then was able to see things work. The more I worked with it, the more I came to respect just how GOOD it is. Unfortunately, I transfered offices and have not worked with Siemens in a while. I have been doing OMRON and have come to realize it too is quite powerful and flexible. The smaller PLC's like the CPM2C

I am truly a hardware person. Programming is not second nature to me like some folks I work with. I am getting better at it as it is a challenge and cause to learn and grow as a service tech. I do like CX-ONE and the intuitive nature.

I also am convinced that OMRON has the superior tech support group. I have called Siemens and usually had to talk to a some one reading the same book I was. I found the Siemen's distributors usually had the best support folks. Maybe in other parts of the world it might be different.

This is my $00.02 on this discussion.

[theDave2]

Siemens vs Omron (Given that both can do the task.) is easy: Omron wins hands down - easy, friendly, very good support, no funny stuff.

I've programmed both (and at least 7 other brands / 20 totally diff plcs) and I'll never do a Siemens again. Debug / actual programming time is at least 3x any other brand.

[Gambrinus]

Maybe Siemens isn't useful for your programming style? I think all depends from it. If you have perfect examples written for another PLC, it doesn't means be perfect for Siemens in all cases. And vice versa. I'm a Siemens guy. Don't like LAD etc. And I had see in some cases Siemens possibilities shortage in another PLC.
AB, Siemens, Schneider, Mitsubishi, Omron - all are popular in the world. So many people cann't be so stupid to use bad PLC.

[marinko]

Originally Posted by Gromit

Hello,

Which of those two PLC manufacturers do you find more usefull.
I used to program Omron PLCs for about an year. Then I had to jump to the Siemens brand. Comparing them I find the Siemens programming more professional and heavy, in respect to Omron, which is more user friendly and intuitive.
For Siemens we have structures, arrays and the data memory can be very large (Mbytes).
Omron has a data memory max 512 kwords, no structures, no arrays. But you can program all your stuff in LAD only. No need to mix LAD and STL.
I can not decide which conception is smarter?

Regards

Both are smart
You must be familiar with both conceptions (Siemens and Omron)
Omron is very good in a relatively small applications, i.e. to rewrite relay scheme in the plc program. Also, Omron PLC's are cheaper and are more cost effective.
But, if you deal with reletively complex problem where you have large amount of data and make complex operations, using Omron PLC will be more time costing because Siemens has powerfull and simple modular concept of programming. This saves time and nerves. Also, in large and complex applications you must buy more Omron PLC's because you will overflow memory. Also Siemens has some more advanced hardware that greatly simplifies develloping and commiting of project.

Price is most important, so use Omron in common applications, and Siemens in complex applications.

[Outrage]

Hi All,

Thought i'd kick off my first post on this thread with my personal likes and dislikes, like everything it is down to personal preference and experience.

I am a ladder man myself and my favourite PLC's are Rockwell (AB) PLC 5 to control Logix, it's what I started out with and always found them simple to use and easy to program. My pears at the time used Siemens S5's and S7's programming in a mixture of STL and LAD and at the time I found them quite daunting Voodoo'esq stuff. At the moment rather than doing the PLC design i've moved over to a maintenace role using Siemens S7 200 to 400 stuff. I still find this more difficult then AB as it's been programmed in STL and LAD and i'm not one of these people that can visualise what the programs doing by looking at lines of text.

I can't say ive used Omron so I can't really offer any critique.

Cheers,

Lee