I'm an electrician in a heavy industrial enviroment and I can tell you that someday every single piece of equipment will have some sort of PLC or programmable type component on it. I'm starting to see small conveyors with no more than three inputs and one output on them. This seems to be overkill but it is also job security!
My company continually tries to lay us off but because of our abilities and knowledge they can't. They have cut us back so far that sometimes they pay people to stand around and wait on us. It sounds silly but what do you expect when your maintenance foreman never worked in maintenance.
The point I'm trying to make is, make sure your training is not only self-gratifying but also keeps you employed. I find PLC's to be a major part of being an industrial electrician and a major part of keeping me employed.
[This message has been edited by DUGMAZE (edited 10-20-2002).]
