Profibus Australia expands training for 2015

Certified Profinet and Profibus courses will be available at all major industrial and engineering centres around Australia and New Zealand as Profibus Australia (PAA) announces a 5-week training campaign for 2015, in partnership with Verwer Training Consultancy (VTC) and the PICC (Pentair).

Engineers in New Zealand will be the first to benefit from the training program starting in April. The courses will then continue in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne throughout May 2015.

The process and manufacturing industries are increasingly adopting Profinet and other Industrial Ethernet networks. In response, automation engineers hoping to gain an advantage in the jobs market must update and upgrade their Profinet and Profibus knowledge and qualifications.

To bridge this knowledge gap, the PAA has invited UK-based automation expert Peter Thomas from VTC to conduct 3-day Certified Profinet Engineer courses in Australia. These courses, which started in 2014, provide both practical experience and theory, ensuring an all-rounded learning experience.

The launch of the new courses in November 2014, combined with the PAA’s promotion efforts, have led to unprecedented industry awareness and demand for Profinet and Profibus training, resulting in a steep increase in enrolment enquiries over the past three months. To cater for this demand, the PAA is announcing additional Profinet training courses for 2015 in New Zealand, Perth, Brisbane and Sydney.

Vladimir Vukovic from Pentair Actuators & Controls was a leading graduate from last year’s Profinet course. He believes the training course helps automation engineers address the challenges presented by the rise of Profinet.

“Profinet is an advanced industrial communication technology that brings together all the important and relevant features required in process and factory automation, such as open standards, more integration, new innovative applications and seamless integration of existing systems,” Vukovic said. “Understanding all of this without training is no easy task.”

Another course graduate, Graham Wilcox from Aroona Alliance, said he valued the opportunity to configure and fault-find on the Profinet network using equipment from several different manufacturers.

“The hands-on practical exercises were very useful. I now have a much greater understanding of the minimum levels and equipment types required to fully support maintenance.”

Visit the Profibus Australia website (profibusaustralia.com.au) for a training calendar covering the 2015 dates for Certified Profinet and Profibus training courses. For booking enquiries and more course information, contact Andrew Dummett (PAA) on 02 9555 7899 or by email at info@profibusaustralia.com.au.