Siemens vs Allen Bradly

Hi all,

I am looking for a good comparison between the different series of both Siemens and Allen Bradley. Does anyone have a short description, or can point me towards one? I did a little online search, but all I can find is why somebody thinks Siemens is better and vice versa.

Specifically looking at S7-1200 and S7-300.

Why don't you have the distributors or manufacturers come to your facility and show you demos
Then form your own opinion

There's an old saying about opinions.... And everyone's got one.

I could do that, but surely someone here knows what series of Allen Bradley compare to these two models of Siemens.

Hi

Look at the new range of compact logix controllers for the s7 300
I have used the 1200 and I am starting to work with Tia.
Control logix is someone in the I/o range of the 400. I am not to sure what new siemens plc is going to replace the 400
I have a lot of people say the siemens scan cycle is faster than ab. I would say its a lot easier keep the siemens scan cycle down but it's a lot down to how the code is written
Hope that helps

Donnchadh

I have a question / observation.
What brand of plc is used most in your area? What distributors are in your area.
It won't do you much good to learn Siemens if AB is the most widely used plc in your area. Same is true for learning AB.

I have found that at the plant where I used to work, our sister plant used Siemens because AB wouldn't support them. In west and middle Tennessee, AB is top dog hands down. Distributors everywhere.

Also, the programmers at the sister plant used step type programming and a lot of different conditions pointing to fault rungs. Hard to understand.

But that's programmers, everyone does it differently.

regards,
james

I work for a Norwegian company that only uses Siemens. Mostly S7-300, but we are trying to save some money and use the S7-1200 series for the simpler projects.

I moved to the USA, were we have several clients as well, they have inquired about the possibility for us to use Allen Bradley on their projects. That is why I ask what would be comparable to those Siemens series.

Again, I am not asking what is best, I am simply wanting to know what would be comparable.

boneless said:

Hi all,

I am looking for a good comparison between the different series of both Siemens and Allen Bradley. Does anyone have a short description, or can point me towards one? I did a little online search, but all I can find is why somebody thinks Siemens is better and vice versa.

Specifically looking at S7-1200 and S7-300.

Click to expand...

You are going about this wrong. Although I favor Rockwell I don't think Rockwell is best for all applications.

I would state what the application is and then ask.

My opinion would be what is the best supported in your area?? I feel that both can give you what you want but you will need to look at the end game (Chess) to decide which will work best for you.

I have not met any Siemens experts or fans in Oklahoma. I think Rockwell dominates this area. My former employer had one or two Siemens controllers but I did not get involved in using the software with them as a maintenance tech. I am not knocking Siemens at all, but A/B is king around here and folks like what they are used to and tend to bash all the others.

I somewhat agree with Elijah. If your customers want an A/B solution, they may also have a preference for a model they are already familiar with. The customer may already stock spares and have software, cables and experience that greatly influences the decision. From there, it is not too difficult to determine which specific processor and I/O combination best suits your process.

I have had good experiences with the local distributor Rexel USA in OKC supporting us with seminars and classes over the years, and they can assist you with picking out components and selling you software and hardware.

Also, if you describe the application in enough detail, we can probably help you here.

Support here is great!! I have to say my last employer had an ensamble of A/B, Siemens, Omron, Mitsubishi and Koyo. What a cluster!!!!! Each machine had a different PLC, and this is a major headache! stick with what is best supported in your area. You will definitely appreciate it later.

They are not really very close to each other at times. One has an advantage in one area and the other in another. Best thing is to have a look at both and make your own decisions. I generally use neither. I guess a lot depends on whether you thing German or American - I generally think Japanese.

Hello Boneless,

Well I am one of your customers that would preffer that you use A.B.

You guys and Alpha Laval are the only ones that keep putting Siemens on our almost completely A.B. Platforms.

I get where you are comming from in the question you are asking.

You work for a boiler company and your projects are spread all over the country (all over the world for that mater) so you are not dealing with one specific geographical area.

I dont know alot about siemens but I do have a S7-1200 that I bought to play around with and would say that the S7-1200 would compare to the A.B. Micrologix 1400.

Have not used the S7-300 or 400 but from looking at what you guys installed in your cabinets on some of our other ships I would probably agree with Donnchadh and say that the 300 might compare with CompactLogix line.

The Micrologix and CompactLogix each use a different software, Micrologix Uses Logix500 and CompactLogix Uses Logix5000. So you will want to be aware of that before purchasing both.

If you want to try out the Micrologix you can Download RSLogix500 Micro-Lite Starter Software from the Rockwell site for free and try it out as Emulator or you can purchase a Micrologix 1100 and give this free version of the software a run on an actuall Logic Controller. (Software will work on the ML1000 also but the 1100 has ethernet so probably better bang for your buck.) 1100 and 1400 are pretty similar but the 1400 will handle more expansion modules and has a few more bells and whistles.
Unfortunatly the Free version of the software will not work on the 1400 so you will have to purchase the full blown software to use the 1400 model.

I dont think you guys are scheduled to upgrade another one of our vessels for quite some time yet (but with these old ships you never know) If you find yourself in the area while we are on the dock stop by and I can show you all the A.B. line up from PLC-5 to ControlLogix and pretty much everything in between.

Take care and glad to hear that you are considering using AB, hopefully that will be the case by the time we upgrade the boiler on my ship. (T-4 years and counting)

BCS

Hello Again,

It just dawned on me,
You can go to the Rockwell Site and Download for free "Integrated Architecture Builder" software.

This software allows you to virtually build up all of the different A.B. PLC's and components and will give you lots of info about all the different types.

It is a bit confusing to start using but just give your local A.B. rep a call once you have it downloaded and they can walk you through it for the first time. (or I am sure someone on this forum can guide you also)

There are several different groups of software that you can download in this suite and all are very usefull and free. Give it a shot and see what you think.

Regards,
BCS

I have customers that specify AB, others that specify Siemens, and in the rare instance I'm allowed to choose. Each mfg has its merits and depending on the application I'll choose what will work best. But when either will work I'll investigate what kind of support the customer has in the facility that the machine will be commissioned at and let that be the deciding factor.

There you go Sparky, you are the client I refer to, lol. And there are others sharing the same harbors as you frequent.

I really appreciate all the input, but these last three posts are what I need. A client specifically asks us to use a certain brand, we try to say nah, Siemens is the best choice. But costumer is king, sometimes it is worth the effort to broaden ones horizon and start looking at other brands. Especially since I started my own company and do business in the AB part of the world now.

Thank you very much all, I got what I was looking for!