Frequently Asked Questions

ACS Automation & Control Services Ltd is an industrial automation and electrical engineering company based in Measham, Leicestershire. Founded and run by Richard Jones — an apprentice-trained electrical engineer with over 35 years of hands-on experience in industrial automation, control systems and electrical engineering. The company is VAT registered and incorporated in England & Wales. ACS also trades as thePLCGuy.

They are the same company. thePLCGuy is the consumer-facing trading name of ACS Automation & Control Services Ltd. The websites theplcguy.co.uk and automationandcontrol.co.uk both represent the same business — same engineer, same company. All formal documentation and invoices are issued under the registered company name ACS Automation & Control Services Ltd.

ACS is based in Measham, Leicestershire (near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, postcode DE12). Nationwide travel is available across the whole of the UK, and remote support is offered for diagnostics, programming, and monitoring.

Yes. ACS is specifically structured to deliver senior engineering expertise at rates that work for SME manufacturers. You deal directly with the engineer — no account managers, no handoffs, no junior staff. From first enquiry through to commissioning and ongoing support, it's one point of contact with full accountability.

ACS works across all major PLC platforms: Schneider Electric, Allen Bradley (Rockwell Automation), Mitsubishi, Omron, and Siemens S7 / TIA Portal. ACS also has rare retained expertise in legacy Telemecanique TSX and Modicon systems — platforms many engineers are no longer able to support.

Yes. ACS specialises in legacy and obsolete PLC support, including older Telemecanique TSX37, early Modicon, and other discontinued platforms. If your machine runs on an ageing system and other engineers have been unable to help, ACS has the experience to assist — whether that's fault finding, programme modification, or planning a migration path.

Yes. Electrical breakdown and fault finding — including emergency response — is a core service. This covers PLC faults, drive failures, electrical faults, and those difficult intermittent problems that other engineers have given up on. Remote diagnostics are also available to help reduce downtime before a site visit is arranged.

Yes. ACS provides full control panel design, manufacture, and installation. Panels are CE-marked, fully documented with electrical schematics, and tested before delivery. This covers everything from small standalone machine panels through to motor control centres for larger installations.

Yes. ACS designs and builds IoT and remote monitoring solutions using ESP32-based hardware, LoRa wireless networking, Firebase cloud backends, and custom web app dashboards accessible on any device. These are used for OEE tracking, production data logging, condition monitoring, and remote access — for example grain temperature monitoring across large agricultural sites using 868MHz LoRa probes.

ACS has experience across a wide range of manufacturing sectors including agriculture and grain handling, precast concrete, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, injection moulding, and general manufacturing. If your production process involves electrical control systems, ACS can help.

HSK Kunststoff Schweißtechnik GmbH is a German manufacturer of professional plastic welding equipment, based in Bad Honnef, Germany. They have been manufacturing plastic welding tools since 2003 and all equipment conforms to DVS welding standards. ACS Automation & Control Services Ltd is the authorised UK distributor for the full HSK range.

ACS Automation & Control Services Ltd is the authorised UK distributor for all HSK plastic welding machines and accessories. Contact ACS to order any product from the range — including hot gas welding guns, hand extrusion welders, pipe butt welding machines, sheet and tarpaulin welders, electro fusion controllers, socket fusion welders, and industrial extruders.

HSK equipment is suitable for all common thermoplastics including PP (polypropylene), PE (polyethylene), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), and PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride). Specific machines are designed for different applications — from handheld hot gas guns for fabrication work through to hydraulic pipe butt welders for large-diameter pipework installations.

A hand extrusion welder (also called an extrusion gun) melts thermoplastic filler rod and deposits it into a prepared joint — similar in principle to MIG welding for metals but for plastics. They are used for welding heavy-section thermoplastic sheet, liner fabrication, tank and vessel building, and structural plastic joints. HSK hand extrusion welders range from 1.0 to 6.0 kg/h output to cover light fabrication through to heavy industrial work, conforming to DVS 2207-4.

A pipe butt welding machine heats the prepared ends of two thermoplastic pipes and then presses them together under controlled force to create a permanent fused joint — no filler material is used. HSK machines are available in manual and hydraulic versions for different pipe diameters and site conditions, conforming to DVS 2208. They are used in water distribution, gas supply, chemical processing, and industrial pipeline installations.

Electro fusion welding joins thermoplastic pipes using specialist fittings that have electrical heating elements embedded in them. The HSK WhiteLine range of electro fusion controllers supply controlled electrical energy to melt the fitting onto the pipe. WhiteLine units include full weld data logging and GPS location recording, making them suitable for compliance-critical pipeline work in water and gas infrastructure.

DVS (Deutscher Verband für Schweißen und verwandte Verfahren) standards are the internationally recognised standards for plastic welding. HSK hot gas welders conform to DVS 2207-3, hand extrusion welders to DVS 2207-4, and pipe butt welding machines to DVS 2208. These standards define the equipment requirements and procedures for producing consistent, high-quality plastic welds.