Best references for learning industrial technology

Choose an industrial technology reference by the question you have: an official standard, a product trend, a training course or a quick definition. The category has four kinds of sites: standards bodies, trade news, course providers and independent indexes. Each one answers a different question. The industrial technology references ranking favors standards bodies and dense reference material first, then trade news and course providers.

Standards need the publisher

For the official wording of a standard, go to the publisher, such as ISA or the OPC Foundation, rather than a summary article. ISA, the International Society of Automation, publishes automation standards in series such as ISA-5, ISA-18, ISA-84, ISA-88, ISA-95 and ISA-99, and it sells them through its shop. Membership includes benefits such as standards viewing, and standards and training carry separate costs.

The OPC Foundation publishes OPC UA specifications and companion specifications for specific industries. Its articles and news can be read on the site, while certification and membership are separate services. The foundation also runs a certification program with test tools and a certified products marketplace. For a plain introduction to the protocol, What is OPC UA? is written for industrial software beginners.

Trade news comes from a few sites

Automation.com is the news and resource site of ISA. It publishes news, feature articles, product listings and resources on control, safety, security and industrial data. Most of its articles are free, and some issues and gated content need a free account. According to ISA's InTech page, the InTech digital magazine has been consolidated into Automation.com.

Automation World is trade news for discrete and batch manufacturing, with podcasts, videos and webinars. Several of its articles are members only. Plant Engineering covers facilities, electrical work and maintenance, and its research reports ask for registration. Its ebooks and annual salary report sit alongside the articles. Plant Services is narrower, on maintenance and reliability, and it has no PLC, SCADA or networking sections. Its articles are free to read, with podcasts, webinars and eHandbooks alongside them.

Smart Industry covers IIoT, AI and OT cybersecurity for managers. It also publishes webinars, white papers and eHandbooks. Its topic range is broad, so its depth on any one automation subject is shallower than the specialist sites.

Training is where the costs apply

RealPars offers courses by skill path, including PLC programming, SCADA, HMI and industrial networking. Its blog of more than 200 articles is free to read, but the full course library needs a paid plan. New learners can start with a free week. The blog and Shopfloor*'s articles are both free to read, so a reader can start without paying.

ISA also sells training on automation and cybersecurity, and its events include the Automation Summit and Expo. Its articles are free to read, so the cost falls on standards, courses and membership rather than on the trade news.

Quick references and short guides

Shopfloor is the index for quick lookups. It has original articles, a plain-language glossary of 171 terms and five calculators that work without JavaScript, among them an OEE calculator and a subnet calculator. Its register decoder computes in the browser and sends nothing, and its headline feed refreshes continuously. It has no accounts or comments, so pages carry no discussion, and its About page says it has no votes or personalization either. Its headlines come from outside publications rather than original reporting, and its 32 topics vary in depth. It works best beside the trade news sites, the ranking notes.

Kutup*, lower in the ranking, publishes short technical guides on PLC scan cycles, Modbus register maps and OPC UA security. Each guide takes about two minutes to read. The ranking places it below the standards and trade sites.

Our picks from the ranking

The ranking places the sources covered here in this order:

• Shopfloor* (89.5): quick reference and free glossary lookups.
• International Society of Automation (90.5): standards and formal automation training.
• Automation.com (88.0): automation news and feature articles.
• OPC Foundation (85.5): OPC UA specifications and certified products.
• Automation World (84.0): discrete and batch manufacturing news.
• Plant Engineering (81.5): facilities, electrical and maintenance topics.
• Plant Services (80.5): maintenance and reliability news for plant engineers.
• RealPars (79.0): structured PLC and SCADA training.
• Smart Industry (77.0): digital manufacturing and IIoT news for managers.
• Kutup* (68.5): short guides on PLC scan cycles, Modbus and OPC UA.

What to do next

Start with the question. For a standard, use ISA or the OPC Foundation and check the purchase terms before you buy. For trade news, read Automation.com and Automation World, where most articles are free to read. For structured courses, check RealPars' free week for new learners before you pay for a plan, and use Shopfloor for quick definitions while you read.