*Posts on this page are from the Control Talk blog, which is one of the ControlGlobal.com blogs for process automation and instrumentation professionals and Greg McMillan’s contributions to the ISA Interchange blog.

Tips for New Process Automation Folks

  • Tip #66: Seek First Principles for a Deeper Understanding

    Gregory K McMillan
    The automation profession requires knowledge of thousands of details on hardware, software, interfaces, and process applications. The diversity of the industries served and the natural inclination of people to think their case is special often lead to... Read the full text.

  • Effect of Measurement Dynamics Perspective Tips

    Gregory K McMillan
    The measurement provides the window into the process. Smart transmitters have made the view clearer. Installation and operating condition effects are compensated for allowing the transmitter to have an installed accuracy close to the sensor capability... Read the full text.

  • Tip #26: Document Your Code

    Gregory K McMillan
    You will invent a whole new library of curse words the first time you have to come behind a previous engineer and work on a program that involves thousands of lines of complex, undocumented code. Concept: Documenting software code does not take a great... Read the full text.

  • Tip #82: Use and Tune Smart Positioners

    Gregory K McMillan
    I was encouraged to omit positioners in one of my first projects in the 1970s as lead instrument engineer. A former power system maintenance technician taking a new career path in instrument maintenance decided that positioners would add unnecessary complexity... Read the full text.

  • What Does a Car Collision Teach us about Process Control Tips

    Gregory K McMillan
    The use of the term "process dead time" can mislead us in terms of recognizing the many sources of dead time. Also we don't often take into effect the profound effect of the speed and the entry point of a disturbance into the process. Here we use a short... Read the full text.

  • Tip #7: If You Have to Tell Everyone How Smart You Are, You Probably Aren’t

    Gregory K McMillan
    I have met many people who were infinitely smarter than I, and their intelligence was obvious to me within a few sentences of conversation. Conversely, I have met other people who were quick to inform me of their supposedly advanced intellect, and in... Read the full text.

  • Tip #60: Write and Present Papers

    Gregory K McMillan
    In Monsanto Engineering Technology (ET), where I spent most of my career, I had the privilege of working with the world’s best in modeling and control. The ET director, the late Dr. Jim Fair (Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas) encouraged us... Read the full text.

  • Field Automation and Compressed Air System Mistakes Tips

    Gregory K McMillan
    Michel Ruel, a frequent source on process control improvement in both my Control Talk Blogs and Columns, offers his concise list of the more memorable mistakes made with actuators, compressed air systems, transmitters, and variable speed drives.  Many... Read the full text.

  • Tip #36: A College Degree Does NOT Buy You Respect, Nor Is It a Good Indication of What You Know

    Gregory K McMillan
    The corollary is also true – the lack of a college degree is not a reliable indicator of a person’s level of knowledge. I have seen young engineers who expected (and even demanded) respect and deference even though they had done nothing to earn it other... Read the full text.

  • Equipment, Piping, and Valve Mistakes Part 2 Tips

    Gregory K McMillan
    I have dug deep into my memory to add 21 more items to the list of process, mechanical, and piping design mistakes that have made our job as automation engineers more challenging and in some cases impossible. We learn the most by our mistakes. Besides... Read the full text.

  • Tip #59: Document the Benefits of Improvements

    Gregory K McMillan
    The process control improvement program described in the June 2012 Control Talk column “The Human Factor” was a success at the company I worked for because of one person, Glenn Mertz. Glenn was able to get agreement from plant management on the benefits... Read the full text.

  • Equipment, Piping, and Valve Mistakes Part 1 Tips

    Gregory K McMillan
    With a little help from my friends I have come up with a list of process, mechanical, and piping design mistakes that have made our job as automation engineers more challenging and in some cases impossible. We learn the most by our mistakes. Besides preventing... Read the full text.

  • Tip #30: Appearance Matters

    Gregory K McMillan
    I was working on a large project early in my career and due to a last-minute design change, I had to quickly fabricate a panel with a dozen three-way valves to allow Operations to manually control some equipment. I threw together a design and the contractor... Read the full text.

  • Tip #58: Make Yourself More Marketable

    Gregory K McMillan
    I have heard engineers say that they can’t go to a technical conference or take a course, or can’t do some extracurricular work, without even having asked their manager. Even stranger is when these people go into their manager’s office and say what amounts... Read the full text.

  • Effect of Process Dynamics on Loop Performance Tips

    Gregory K McMillan
    Most process engineers were not taught how process and equipment design affect loop dynamics and performance. Many of the more demanding control applications are the result poor process dynamics. Automation engineers can help bridge the gap and be able... Read the full text.

  • Tip #3: Pain Is Instructive

    Gregory K McMillan
    I must confess that this is one of my favorite lines because it applies to practically everything from managing your boss, to dealing with co-workers, to raising children. The concept is simple—humans (and most animals) learn to avoid “pain.” (The word... Read the full text.

  • Effect of Controller Dynamics on Loop Performance Tips

    Gregory K McMillan
    Tuning has a profound effect on the practical limit to control loop performance. While the effect of execution time and filter time is often much less in comparison, these time settings can get the user into trouble depending on tuning and loop dynamics... Read the full text.

  • Tip #53: Find and Read Technical Articles and Books

    Gregory K McMillan
    I have about 100 binders of articles and papers and 100 books that were gathered between 1974 and 2004. I acquired about a half of the articles and papers from the late Vernon Trevathan along with his expertise in compressor control, pH control, and tuning... Read the full text.

  • Effect of Valve and VSD Dynamics on Loop Performance Tips

    Gregory K McMillan
    The control valve and variable speed drive are the final control elements that directly affect the process by manipulating a flow. The expectation is that these elements do their job and do not adversely affect the tuning and performance of the loop.... Read the full text.

  • Tip #22 Details Matter

    Gregory K McMillan
    I was working on a large automation retrofit project of a chemical plant that had numerous thermocouples scattered throughout the structures. A vendor suggested a particular thermocouple card that I had never used, and I was about to proceed with that... Read the full text.

  • Key Misunderstood Terms for Control System Dynamics Tips

    Gregory K McMillan
    A significant part of the challenge in understanding process control is the proper use of terms to describe the dynamics in a control loop. Communication can be greatly improved by focusing on three key terms and adding a few words to more aptly describe... Read the full text.

  • Tip #52: Be a Good Listener

    Gregory K McMillan
    Engineers love to solve problems. If your questions are intelligent and you appear conscientious and dutiful in understanding and using the information for a solution, the office door will generally be open for you. A person can tell if you are listening... Read the full text.

  • The Root Causes of Slow Oscillations Tips

    Gregory K McMillan
    Slow oscillations can be difficult to recognize especially when the period is beyond the typical time frame of the trend chart or there are intervening disturbances or recycle. Slow oscillations can be more detrimental to product quality because the large... Read the full text.

  • Tip #20: Spend the Money to Individually Fuse I/O with Indicating Fuse Blocks

    Gregory K McMillan
    I recently encountered a control cabinet on a client’s site that had 50 valve limit switches wired to a single breaker. If any of the 50 shorted, the entire group tripped off line. Between this installation and several others like it, the technicians... Read the full text.

  • Tip #76: Use Checklists to Cover All the Bases

    Gregory K McMillan
    The information needed to successfully select and install instruments is spread out in articles, books, handbooks, papers, and vendor catalogs and in knowledgeable individuals who do not have the time or incentive to publish. Articles and papers tend... Read the full text.

This is the official online community site of the Emerson Exchange, a forum for the free exchange of non-proprietary information among the global user community of all Emerson's products and services. Our goal is to improve the efficiency and use of automation systems and solutions employed at members’ facilities by sharing our knowledge, experiences, and application information.

Community Guidelines | Legal Information | Privacy Policy | Contact Community Manager

Website translation provided by Website Translator

© 2015-2026 Emerson Exchange. All rights reserved.