# Omron PLC vs AB



## AlexBanks (Feb 18, 2016)

I start a job next month and I've been told they mostly use Omron. I haven't had any run ins with it. Can anyone tell me differences and similarities between it and AB?


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## mitch65 (Mar 26, 2015)

Probably come out of the same factory.


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## AlexBanks (Feb 18, 2016)

Growing trend these days


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## JRaef (Mar 23, 2009)

No, not even close. AB is 42% of the PLC market in N America, Omrom maybe 2-3%. Worldwide AB is #3 behind Siemens and Mitsubishi, Omron is somewhere around #10. 

All AB PLC products are manufactured by AB, nothing is brand labeled in that product group. People think the Micro800 is a brand label, but it isn't, they have their own factory in Indonesia that makes those, the PF520 series drives and the new E300 SSOL relays. 

From a programming standpoint the Omrons will program differently but for the most part is similar enough that you should probably be able to pick it up easily. The one that is grossly different is Siemens. People who start on AB have a hard time switching to thinking like a German, and vice versa.


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## AlexBanks (Feb 18, 2016)

JRaef said:


> No, not even close. AB is 42% of the PLC market in N America, Omrom maybe 2-3%. Worldwide AB is #3 behind Siemens and Mitsubishi, Omron is somewhere around #10.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




No encounters with Siemens either yet. The guys that interviewed me seemed pretty high on Omron. This plant also makes steering columns for Jap vehicles so there's the connection. Just anxious to get a grip on it


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## JRaef (Mar 23, 2009)

Yeah, that's not uncommon. I did a lot of work for a Mitsubishi carbon fiber plant out here, no surprise they insisted on Mitsubishi PLCs and drives. 

One odd thing you will run into is that for sensors, Japanese companies use NPN inputs, everyone else in the world uses PNP inputs. To us, it looks "backward" in terms of the wiring. It isn't, it just takes a little getting used to.

Note to anyone that saw this earlier, I got that exactly backward at first and corrected it...


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## AlexBanks (Feb 18, 2016)

JRaef said:


> Yeah, that's not uncommon. I did a lot of work for a Mitsubishi carbon fiber plant out here, no surprise they insisted on Mitsubishi PLCs and drives.
> 
> One odd thing you will run into is that for sensors, Japanese companies use NPN inputs, everyone else in the world uses PNP inputs. To us, it looks "backward" in terms of the wiring. It isn't, it just takes a little getting used to.
> 
> Note to anyone that saw this earlier, I got that exactly backward at first and corrected it...




Good to know. Thank you


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## oliquir (Jan 13, 2011)

i did work with both of them and i find omron functions a lot harder to understand than ab. omron still work with hex values and old stuff like that.


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## AlexBanks (Feb 18, 2016)

oliquir said:


> i did work with both of them and i find omron functions a lot harder to understand than ab. omron still work with hex values and old stuff like that.




I'm getting to see what you mean about the hex values. It's definitely different. And you were right about the npn too at least with older models. The newer models mostly use pnp from what I've seen so far anyway.


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## Frank Mc (Nov 7, 2010)

AlexBanks said:


> I'm getting to see what you mean about the hex values. It's definitely different. And you were right about the npn too at least with older models. The newer models mostly use pnp from what I've seen so far anyway.


Did some mods recently to an Omron system which had both npn and pnp input cards...As Jraef states the japs used npn a lot...My take on it was back in the day in microprocessors the control signals were active low so they kept with that system...who knows...

Frank


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## AlexBanks (Feb 18, 2016)

No telling. I could see more as I get into more machines.


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## Jairus (Feb 19, 2014)

CX-programmer is user friendly. You can download free CX-one software in the net for learning purposes, that's package already with cx-programmer. I am a seimens PLC user for quite sometime now, and jumping to omron PLC is quite not difficult for me...


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## AlexBanks (Feb 18, 2016)

Siemens is one I'd like to fiddle with. I've messed a couple of drives but never a Plc. They say it's hard to think like the Germans and vise versa. I'd like the challenge


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