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Description
Install, configure, calibrate, test, troubleshoot, and repair industrial control systems and instrumentation, including PLCs, HMIs, drives, sensors, and networks, to ensure safe, reliable automation performance.
Job tasks Attributes
  • • Perform preventive maintenance on control panels, PLCs, instrumentation, and drives to prevent failures.
  • • Review work orders and confer with operators and engineers to define control issues and contributing process or human factors.
  • • Set up, commission, and function-test control loops, PLC I/O, and HMIs.
  • • Operate processes in manual and automatic modes to verify operation and analyze control malfunctions.
  • • Diagnose faults using multimeters, loop calibrators, analyzers, and software to trace issues in PLCs, I/O, instrumentation, and networks.
  • • Repair, replace, or adjust sensors, actuators, VFDs, relays, and control wiring; reseal enclosures and glands as needed.
  • • Calibrate transmitters, valve positioners, analyzers, and repaired equipment to specifications.
  • • Recommend improvements to control strategies, component reliability, and maintainability based on performance data.
  • • Inspect control panels, terminations, and field devices for correct installation, tagging, and defects such as loose or frayed conductors.
  • • Interpret P&IDs, electrical schematics, loop sheets, and manuals to determine installation and troubleshooting steps.
  • • Maintain CMMS logs of alarms, failures, repairs, calibrations, and test results.
  • • Coordinate with electricians, mechanics, and engineers during installations, shutdowns, and start-ups.
  • • Maintain spare parts for PLC modules, I/O cards, instrumentation, and critical control components.
  • • Consult with supervisors and control engineers to plan panel layouts, I/O assignments, and system modifications.
  • • Return defective modules or instruments to vendors or specialized shops when beyond in-house repair.
  • • Install, wire, and commission repaired or new control equipment in industrial facilities.
  • • Evaluate suitability of standard control hardware or propose specifications for custom solutions.
  • • Use programming and configuration software to upload or download PLC and HMI programs, adjust parameters, and update as-built drawings.
  • • Complete and sign calibration, loop-check, and repair documentation to meet QA and regulatory requirements.
  • • Assist in developing or modifying control logic, alarm points, and HMI graphics per specifications.
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Source
Tasks & skills: O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge). Learn more
Sources & Standards: This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
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