Control Systems Specialist

EOE Statement We are an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

Description

System Architecture & Programming: Design, develop, and deploy comprehensive PLC and HMI/SCADA programs utilizing the Allen-Bradley Logix platform (Studio 5000 / RSLogix 5000).

Motion Control & Coordination: Program and commission high-speed, multi-axis synchronized motion systems (Kinetix servo drives, virtual master axes, electronic gearing, and camming) for precision manufacturing operations.

• Conveyor & Material Handling Integration:
  • Design, program, and optimize complex material handling systems, including accumulation conveyors, sortation systems, palletizers, and automated guided vehicle (AGV) or autonomous mobile robot (AMR) handoffs.
  • Implement tracking, merging, diverting, and barcode/RFID scanning logic to ensure seamless product flow through high-throughput logistics and production lines.
• Process & Web Handling Control:
  • Design and optimize control strategies for web handling (webline) applications, including tension control, winding/unwinding, and registration.
  • Engineer control algorithms for extrusion processes, ensuring tight temperature regulation, pressure control, and line speed synchronization.
  • Implement complex batch process sequences adhering to industry standards (e.g., ISA-88 principles).

Advanced Control Loops: Design, tune, and troubleshoot complex PID control loops, including cascade loops, ratio control, and advanced feed-forward control strategies to minimize disturbance and maximize process stability.

System Integration: Integrate third-party equipment, robotics, instrumentation, and vision systems into the primary control network using industrial protocols (Ether Net/IP, Control Net, Device Net).

Debugging & Commissioning: Conduct rigorous on-site factory acceptance testing (FAT), site acceptance testing (SAT), troubleshooting, and system startup.

Safety Integration: Design and implement hardware and software safety systems compliant with relevant standards (ISO 13849 / ANSI B11.19) using Allen-Bradley Guard Logix controllers and safety-rated components.

Documentation: Create and maintain robust engineering documentation, including functional design specifications (FDS), control philosophy documents, I/O lists, cause-and-effect matrices, and as-built code comments.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline (or equivalent practical experience).

Experience:

• Minimum of 8-10+ years of hands-on controls engineering experience in a manufacturing, machinery builder (OEM), or heavy industrial process environment.
• Expert-level proficiency in Allen-Bradley hardware and software ecosystems (Control Logix, Guard Logix, Studio 5000, Panel View Plus, Factory Talk View SE/ME).

Technical Expertise:

• Demonstrated mastery of high-speed motion control and multi-axis coordination.
• Direct experience with continuous web handling lines (weblines) and extruders.
• Proven experience in batch processing and continuous process industries.
• Deep theoretical and practical knowledge of PID loop tuning, cascade control, and feed-forward compensation.
• Extensive experience with conveyor systems and material handling automation architecture and product tracking.
• Familiarity with WMS (Warehouse Management Systems) or MES (Manufacturing Execution System) integration for material handling routing.

Networking & Hardware: Strong working knowledge of industrial networking architecture, specifically Ethernet/IP topology, managed switches, VLANs, and device-level ring (DLR) configurations.

Teamwork and Collaboration
:
Strong cross-functional communication skills, and the ability to work independently or lead projects in high-pressure manufacturing environments.

BW Systems believes in rewarding employees with competitive pay and a strong benefits package.

Salary Range: $90,000 -…