In modern manufacturing and industrial processes, petroleum industries, utilities, petrochemical and pipeline industries, telemetry is often needed to connect equipment and systems separated by large distances. This can range from a few meters to thousands of kilometers. Telemetry is used to send commands, programs and receives monitoring information from these remote locations. SCADA refers to the combination of telemetry and data acquisition. SCADA encompasses the collecting of the information, transferring it back to the central site, carrying out any necessary analysis and control and then displaying that information on a number of operator screens or displays. The required control actions are then conveyed back to the process. Computer-based supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems have evolved over the years, from standalone, compartmentalized operations into networked architectures that communicate across large distances. In addition, their implementations have migrated from custom hardware and software to standard hardware and software platforms. These changes have led to reduced development, operational and maintenance costs as well as providing executive management with real-time information that can be used to support planning, supervision and decision making. The functionality of the PLC has evolved over the years to include capabilities beyond typical relay control; sophisticated motion control, process control, distributive control systems and complex networking have now been added to the PLC’s list of functions. The PLC is still one of the most widely used control systems in industry. As need to monitor and control more devices in the plant grew, the PLCs were distributed and the systems became more intelligent and smaller in size. This course is designed to cover the PLC and SCADA systems covering also other new developments in this area. It commences with a brief review of the fundamentals of PLC and SCADA systems hardware, software and the typical communications systems (such as RS-232, RS-485, Ethernet and TCP/IP) that connect the SCADA operator situations together. The course is intended to be product independent but examples will be taken from existing products to ensure that all aspects of the protocols are covered. Allen Bradley and Siemens simulators will be used for practical sessions. Finally, this course will provide you with the tools to design your next SCADA system more effectively using open protocols and to integrate same with your PLCs as RTUs.