BIN95.com Industrial Training

10/20/2026

When choosing electrical schematic software, do you need drawing tools alone—or the ability to simulate the circuit, too?

For maintenance work, updating drawings and printing clear documentation may be the priority. For instructors, operating a virtual circuit and introducing faults for students to diagnose can make simulation a deciding factor.

This comparison looks at EZ Schematics Standard, EZ Schematics Professional and Constructor 16, covering prices, symbol libraries, printing/export options and simulation capabilities. It also shows where hydraulic and pneumatic drawing support fits into the choice.

https://bin95.com/articles/electrical/best-industrial-electrical-schematic-software.htm

Which features have proved most useful in your shop or classroom?

Compare industrial electrical schematic drawing software: EZ Schematics Standard, Professional, and Constructor 16. Features, use, prices, export, and more.

10/19/2026

RFID vs. Barcodes
How well do you know the technologies behind warehouse inventory tracking?

If you work in—or are preparing for a role in—warehousing, distribution, or inventory control, understanding what RFID can and cannot do is useful knowledge.

BIN95’s free 30-question RFID and barcode assessment lets you check your understanding of tags, readers, operating frequencies, and barcode fundamentals.

Answer the questions, get an instant score, and see where a refresher could help. No registration required.

Take the free assessment:
https://bin95.com/training-needs-assessments/rfid-training-online-assessment.htm

A useful knowledge check for warehouse teams, supervisors, and anyone exploring RFID technology.

Test your RFID and barcode knowledge with 30 free multiple-choice questions. Get an instant score and explore RFID self-study training from BIN95.

10/02/2026

40% off automation control training—with long-term value for schools and companies.

Through December 31, 2026, BIN95 is offering an additional 40% discount on the Site and Enterprise Licenses featured on our site license page—including already-discounted course bundles!

A perpetual Site License lets you train unlimited students or employees at one licensed facility, year after year. No annual subscriptions. No added per-seat charges as your training program grows. Enterprise Licenses cover multiple facilities.

Our self-study courses include built-in interactive simulators and cover PLCs, electrical troubleshooting, motor controls, HMI, variable frequency drives, and more.

Choose individual courses or take advantage of everyday bundle savings plus the additional 40% discount. Quotes honored for six months.

Explore course options, licensing details, and public pricing:

https://bin95.com/educational-site-licenses/

09/28/2026

Schools and corporate training departments: What is the cost of scaling up your training year over year?

We compared self-study course features, licensing, and one- and three-year costs for BIN95, RealPars, SolisPLC, and TPC. The example uses seven automation control subjects at one facility.

The tables show where purchasing options differ: individual course Site Licenses, bundle discounts, learner limits, annual subscriptions, interactive simulators, and printable lab manuals. We also explain how we calculated the comparison costs.

Explore the comparison: https://bin95.com/articles/automation/automation-control-training-comparison.htm

09/16/2026

Free Hands-On PLC Programming Lessons

If you teach PLCs, are learning PLC programming, or want more hands-on practice, we recently posted a new series of free PLC programming lessons on BIN95.

The series starts with a Getting Started guide and then progresses through 7 practical lessons, including:

• Creating and editing ladder logic
• Understanding the PLC processor scan sequence
• Working with data files and timers
• Programming a timed car wash sequence
• Using Bit Shift Right / Bit Shift Left instructions
• Programming a simulated bottling line application

The lessons teach programming using the RSLogix 500 and RSLogix 5000 environments. To complete the hands-on exercises, you need the PLCLogix 500 or PLCLogix 5000 training simulator.

The lessons are free to view and don't require registration:

https://bin95.com/electrical-training-simulator/plc-programming-lessons.htm

For the instructors and trainers in the group: What types of PLC exercises have you found most effective for helping students move from understanding ladder logic to actually applying it?

09/07/2026

NEW from BIN95: PLC Troubleshooting Guide

When PLC ladder logic looks correct, but the machine, output, or internal bit isn’t behaving as expected, the problem may be somewhere other than the rung you’re looking at.

Our new PLC Troubleshooting Guide examines several instructions and conditions that can create confusing troubleshooting symptoms:

✓ OTL and OTU
✓ JSR and RET
✓ JMP and LBL
✓ MCR zones
✓ PLC forces
✓ Online/controller status

More importantly, the guide explains what to investigate and in what order when PLC logic doesn't appear to make sense.

The guide uses practical Allen-Bradley / RSLogix 5000 examples while teaching troubleshooting concepts applicable across many PLC and PAC brands.

It also includes a video demonstration and a free 10-question PLC troubleshooting assessment using ladder-logic screenshots and real troubleshooting scenarios.

Read the new guide:
https://bin95.com/articles/automation/plc-troubleshooting-guide.htm

A practical resource for maintenance technicians, PLC programmers, automation technicians, instructors, students, and anyone developing stronger PLC troubleshooting skills.

08/26/2026

How do you get management to invest in maintenance?

A strong technical argument isn't always enough. Maintenance leaders also need to communicate the financial and operational value of preventing failures.

Our newest BIN95 article explores practical ways maintenance managers can build that business case, including:

🔹 Calculating the true financial impact of downtime
🔹 Using plant-specific failure data instead of generic industry averages
🔹 Connecting preventive and predictive maintenance to measurable savings
🔹 Identifying failure patterns across the entire plant
🔹 Presenting maintenance ROI in terms upper management understands
🔹 Giving plant managers the information they need to carry the case to executive leadership

The article also challenges a common maintenance mindset: Don't wait for the same failure to repeat on the same machine before looking for a pattern. Several apparently unrelated failures may point to one plant-wide systemic weakness.

Read the new article:
Get Management to Invest in Maintenance https://bin95.com/articles/maintenance-management/justify-maintenance-costs.htm

Learn how maintenance managers can justify maintenance costs, calculate downtime savings, demonstrate ROI, and build management support for preventive and predictive maintenance.

08/08/2026

With ASSEMBLY Magazine – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

08/06/2026

Industrial maintenance and technical work keeps getting broader.

Today's industrial technician may need to know a little—or sometimes a lot—about PLCs, electrical systems, mechanical equipment, troubleshooting, automation, maintenance, reliability, lean manufacturing, and more.

That's one reason we've organized more than 160 BIN95 industrial training videos into one directory, making it easier to browse videos by subject and jump directly to the areas you're interested in.

Topics include:

• PLC, HMI & Automation
• Electrical Training
• Mechanical & Maintenance
• Troubleshooting
• Reliability & Preventive Maintenance
• Lean Manufacturing & TPM
• Industrial Safety
• Engineering & Technical Topics

You can browse the complete video directory here:

https://bin95.com/industrial-training-videos/bin95-industrial-training-videos.php

* No registration is required to browse or watch the videos.

Whether you're an experienced technician looking for a refresher, training someone new to the field, or just trying to expand your own industrial skill set, hopefully you'll find something useful.

We'll also be highlighting some of the individual training categories and videos over the next few weeks.

07/22/2026

Last week’s post on JSR and MCR troubleshooting sparked a lot of discussion — especially around rungs that look true but refuse to energize.
A few people asked for a visual breakdown, so we put together a short video that walks through the three instructions most often responsible for “illogical” PLC behavior: OTU, JSR, and MCR.

If you’ve ever chased a rung that should energize but doesn’t, this will look familiar.

🔧 OTU (Unlatch) — hidden unlatches in other routines overriding what you see
🔧 JSR (Jump to Subroutine) — logic not executing because the routine isn’t being scanned
🔧 MCR (Master Control Reset) — rungs evaluating false inside a control zone even when inputs appear true

If your team works with RSLogix or Studio 5000, this is a quick visual refresher worth sharing.

Here’s the video: ▶️

Having trouble with illogical PLC rungs in RSLogix? This video w...