PITC/PICC Argentina: An Account of Our First Five Months
The first PITC/PICC (PI Training Center and Competence Center) located in Argentina began its operations in May 2017, with a Certified PROFIBUS DP PA Network Engineer course. Since that first experience, we have hosted two Certified PROFINET Network Engineer courses, a Certified PROFIBUS DP PA Installer course, a Certified PROFINET Installer course and finally, in September an additional Certified PROFIBUS DP PA Network Engineer course which had participants from Paraguay and Chile.
A Wide Variety of Students
The people that took the courses work in a wide range of industries, from the soy bean oil and biodiesel industry to the Buenos Aires subway system, a local company related to the nuclear industry, some freelance engineers, and two Siemens product managers. So far, all students have passed the course examinations successfully and we expect, are currently taking advantage of the acquired knowledge and experience not only from the trainers but also from their fellow trainees.
We Also Learned a Few Things
From a trainer’s point of view, it has been a wonderful experience. Especially since it has been a great learning chance for us as well as for the trainees. This is possible because each student came with his/her own background and experience, and by doing so allowed us to fine tune our presentations and analyze some real-life application examples and issues.
The Chance to Get Training in Spanish
For the first time, people that work in automation industry in Argentina have the chance to get Certified PI training courses in Spanish, with all the advantages that come along with studying in your native language.
Our Contributors
We have received ample support from main PROFIBUS and PROFINET suppliers, such as Siemens, Endress+Hauser, Phoenix Contact, Pepperl+Fuchs, Indu-Sol, Weidmuller, Belden, Balluff, Samson, Festo and Danfoss. These companies contributed with hardware that enables us to perform the hands-on aspects of the training. These contributions not only benefit the trainees but in many cases become the first contact for the students with that company’s line of products. There is no doubt that when people learn something using a specific hardware or software, they are more likely to use those again in their job when they have to do some actual work.
You Can Also Participate
We’d like to invite any PROFIBUS and/or PROFINET supplier interested in contributing and participating in this endeavor, to contact us and find ways to work together. Within the PITC/PICC, we can help both end-users and suppliers to learn how to integrate their hardware with control systems, to test component interoperability, and to try different approaches to common issues.
PI’s approach to the automation industry is brand agnostic and technology focused. Its main interest is to make PI’s technology and know-how as easily available as possible.
We have been able to demonstrate different approaches to some issues such as Asset Management and remote device parameterization using EDDL and FDT-DTM technologies. Our trainees had the chance to try state of the art diagnostic tools. And we have been enhancing our own knowledge and comprehension of all things PI related.
Finally, we’d like to invite you to come and get familiar with the full range of services and courses that our PITC/PICC can offer. You’ll learn a few things, discover why you have been doing some things in this or that way, share your experience with your industry peers, greatly enhance your professional profile, and finally have some fun.
Next scheduled training dates:
October 16 – 19: Certified PROFINET Network Engineer
November 7 – 8: Certified PROFIBUS Installer
You can find more information on our website: www.profibus.com.ar
Also, you can find more photos and comments on our Facebook page: profiargentina
Mirko Torrez Contreras is a Process Automation consultant and trainer willing to spend long amounts of time perusing over PI documentation to find out ways to make aspects of the technology easier to explain and understand. Therefore, he’s starting to lose his hair faster than he’d like to. Anyway, he actually enjoys this kind of work.