Hello!

As the man behind this site, it has been my dream to create a resource for people to share information about automation technology. Industrial automation has been my biggest passion — there’s just so much practical knowledge to learn, and there’s no better feeling than the feeling you get when you begin to master a trade.

That’s why I want to share The Automation Primer with you.

About Me:

Hi, I’m Frank Lamb.

I was not a good student in High School, in fact I failed to graduate. After working a series of odd jobs for 3 years, I chanced to walk into an Air Force recruiting office in 1981. It was one of the best decisions I ever made! I went to school for electronics and Navigational Aids, and then was recruited as a teacher at the electronics school at Keesler Air Force Base. I only taught for a little over a year after which the program was discontinued for junior airman teachers, then joined an Engineering and Installation (E&I) squadron for more practical experience.

I got out after my four years and after getting married and enduring a failed experiment at being a rock star, reenlisted, worked at a bombing range for 3 more years, and went to the University of Tennessee as a 30 year old freshman. I managed to graduate in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1993.

I have now worked in the electrical and electronics field for almost 40 years and in controls and automation for about 26 (as of 2020). I worked for several automation distributors after graduating college in Electrical Engineering and went to training seminars on Omron, Allen-Bradley, Pepperl+Fuchs, Danaher, and various other vendors. Part of my job when working for distributors was to train customers in the proper application of products. During this time I discovered that I was more interested in the technical aspects and problem solving than I was in the particular products themselves. This brand-agnostic philosophy has stayed with me to this day. You won’t hear any brand-allegiance from me. It’s not the tools that matter. It’s what you do with them.

I owned a custom machine building and systems integration company from 1996-2006 and learned a lot about the industry. I closed the business and worked for a large machine building company in Nashville after that from 2006-2012, learning how the “big boys” do it.

After leaving Wright Industries I completed my first book, Industrial Automation Hands On, which was published by McGraw-Hill in 2013. I published another book, Advanced PLC Hardware and Programming, in 2019.

In 2013, after about a year of independent systems integration contracting, I started teaching PLC and HMI classes on a contract basis. Three years later I opened my own training facility in 2016, building a small imitation factory that I used to train more advanced students. I held classes there for both Automation Training and Automation NTH, and things were going well. until…

On March 3, 2020, a tornado ripped through the Nashville area, destroying my training facility. Covid-19 hit a couple of weeks later, and like many others I worked from home. It was during this time I decided to shift my focus from in-person classroom training to online recorded and live training. On July first I moved into a new place, where I hope to continue serving up lots of useful industrial automation content. For links to my other social media platforms and groups click below:

Linked In
Facebook – Automation Training group
YouTube – Automatikai

My email: flamb@automationllc.com

************************************************************

Music 

In my spare time I like to play music, and I finished my first CD of original rock music, appropriately titled “Automatika”, in 2013. If you’re curious as to what it sounds like, Google “Phranc Lamm”. Yup, that’s me with the red guitar on the left side of the third picture…

I also play Chess and Go (also known as Baduk in Korea and Weichi in China). I’m always up for a good game or a jam!

**********************************************************

Travel

This is a map of the places I have been and jobs I have been involved in as of December 16, 2016. I put this here to kind of keep a record as I teach and consult around the country. I also put a machine in Suwon, South Korea while I worked for Wright Industries in 2007.

I love to travel, even for work… I’m not sure how long I can keep traveling every week, but overall it’s been fun. Other places I have been; all of Central America, Japan, China, England, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Hawaii and a tiny island off Africa called Ascension. This map pretty much covers everything else.

Well, that’s about it. I have also been married for 35 years as of 2020, have two children ages 32 and 34, two grandchildren, and two more on the way. I live near Nashville Tennessee.