Marlo Zeroth

Automation is the Ultimate School of Risk Management ⚙️📊 My recent posts about the "4 Types of PLC Programmers" and the "Internal Firmware Upgrade" sparked a great debate. It seems we all agree: automation isn't just a job — it’s a cognitive operating system. 🧠💻 But let’s look at the data. Why is a seasoned PLC engineer effectively a Risk Manager in high-vis gear? 👷‍♂️📉 1. The Data: The Cost of a Logic Error 💸 In standard IT, a bug might crash an app. In Industrial Automation (especially in high-speed process or heavy manufacturing), a logic flaw means: 🛠️ Destroyed assets: Mechanical parts worth €100k+ gone in seconds. ⚠️ Safety hazards: Real-world risks for operators on the floor. ⏱️ Downtime: Costs exceeding $2,500+ per minute for the client. 2. Interpretation: The Engineer as a Strategist 🏗️ When your brain migrates to a "24V DC Standard," you stop asking "Will it work?" and start asking "How will it fail?" 🔍 This mindset is a massive competitive advantage. If you can map out potential fault states in a complex sorting system, you can map out risks in a business model or an investment portfolio. 3. Implication: The "Wizard" Trap vs. Scalability 🧙‍♂️⚡ Referring back to my previous analysis: the biggest business risk isn't a power outage; it’s code that only one person understands. The Wizard’s Code: Pure technical debt. It’s "clever" until 3 AM on a Sunday. 🧨 The Standardizer’s Code: Pure Intellectual Capital. It’s modular, predictable, and allows the company to scale. 📈 The Hypothesis💡: The highest-value engineer is the one who strives to be... unnecessary. The more "boring," predictable, and self-diagnosing your system is, the higher your real strategic value. True sophistication is making a complex process look obvious. 🎯 👇 What’s the bigger challenge for you: writing a "brilliant" algorithm that only you understand, or forcing yourself to write a "boring" standard that is bulletproof? 🛡️ #PLC #IndustrialAutomation #Siemens #EngineeringStrategy #RiskManagement #Industry40 #BHS #SystemIntegrity #EngineeringMindset #FieldManagement #Management

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You cant program a process you don't understand. In industry programmers are not process experts typically so they rely on functional narratives to tell then how to program the equipment but its written in English. Controls folk need to take that and translate it to PLC and HMI code that carries out the control and monitoring functionality described in the functional narrative. Sometimes there is no narrative and then you basically need to write something up and have it approved by someone who knows how the process or machinery works. example narrative: press start button and open valve FV-2030 until LIT-2040 hits 90%. Turn on pump P-2060 until LIT-2040 hits 15%. Alarm if pump doesnt run when commanded. Alarm if LIT reads lower than 15% or higher than 90%. How did you learn about functional narratives and who typically does them in your experience?

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