DCS
Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS
Learn how a Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 process control system is built, from AS and OS configuration to CFC charts and sequences.
Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS is a free, self-paced online course from EDWartens for engineering students, apprentices, technicians and working engineers in process control. It has 15 modules and takes about 35.4 hours, with written notes, a practice task per module, a practical project and a final assessment of 15 questions (pass mark 60%). Learning costs nothing and needs only a free account. The optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, verifiable by code, is a one-off US$28.99 for you; it is not a vendor credential. Updated 1 November 2026.
- Free
- Intermediate
- 35.4 hours
- Self-paced
- Certificate optional
- Lab practice in your browser
No card, no trial. The course is free for good. Certificate US$28.99, optional.
- Who it is for
- Engineering students, apprentices, technicians and working engineers in process control
- Jobs
- Roles that use this skill: SCADA engineer, HMI developer, control room technologist and systems integrator. No course guarantees a job.
- Tools
- SIMATIC PCS 7 is licensed engineering software with no public download. Use a licence at work or college, or do every practice task on paper; the videos show each step. Hardware: none required.
- Updated
After this course you can
By the end you will be able to:
- Explain PCS 7 architecture and its components
- Configure AS and OS in a multi-project
- Build CFC charts with run-time groups
- Drive motors and valves with MotL and interlock blocks
- Build PID control and SFC sequences
Who it is for, and what you need first
Who it is for
Engineering students, apprentices, technicians and working engineers in process control.
Level: Intermediate. Intermediate. STEP 7 or TIA Portal basics assumed; the free S7-300 course is the ideal preparation.
What you need
Software: SIMATIC PCS 7 is licensed engineering software with no public download. Use a licence at work or college, or do every practice task on paper; the videos show each step.
Hardware: None required.. What to download, and how.
How this course works
Watch the lessons
Short video lessons, one module at a time, at your own pace.
Read the notes
Open the Reading tab for the written notes and diagrams of the module.
Practise in the 3D labOptional
Try the module in the free 3D lab, in your browser.
Check yourself
Answer the questions to see what stuck before you move on.
Final assessment
Pass the final once you have been through the modules.
Certificate, if you want oneOptional
Optional, with a page anyone can use to verify it.
What you learn
15 modules in order, at your own pace. 35.4 hours of video lessons, with written notes and a practice task in each module.
- 1PCS 7 and Its Components1h 31m
- 2Hardware, AS and OS Configuration and the Multi-Project1h 54m
- 3Creating a Project and Channel Drivers4h 16m
- 4CFC: Function Blocks, Interconnections and Run-Time Groups1h 36m
- 5STEP 7 Inside PCS 7: Memory, Addressing, Analog and Timers, with lab practice: 2h 10m
- 6Functions, Function Blocks, Data Blocks and UDTs2h 9m
- 7Organisation Blocks and Time-Driven OBs47m
- 8The MotL and VlvL Blocks: Local, Automatic and Selector Control1h 48m
Show the other 7 modules
- 9Interlocks and Protection with MotL49m
- 10Custom Logic, Parameter View, Permissions and Features1h 59m
- 11OS: Alarms, Trends, Logging and Users, with lab practice: 1h 43m
- 12Reusable Charts, Voting, PID and Calculations in CFC, with lab practice: 1h 41m
- 13SFC Sequences and Control Templates2h 6m
- 14Projects: Tank Station, Chiller, Compressor, Desalination, with lab practice: 3h 17m
- 15Final Assessment
Software you need
What to download, where from, what it costs and how to install it. Every link goes to the maker's own site, never a mirror.
Show what to download (2 tools)
Required
- 01Licensed systems only
SIMATIC PCS 7 and SIMATIC PCS neo
Siemens
- Runs on
- Windows (see Siemens system requirements for your licensed version)
- Account
- Obtained through Siemens or an employer; no public self-service download
Siemens does not offer a public trial download of PCS 7 or PCS neo. Both are process control systems sold through Siemens for plant projects. PCS neo in the Cloud is pay-per-use: you create a free prepaid tenant and then buy credit packages.
Steps
- 1.Read the SIMATIC PCS 7 product page to understand the system.
- 2.If your employer runs PCS 7 or PCS neo, ask for access to an engineering station or a training licence.
- 3.Otherwise, book a Siemens SITRAIN course, where the software is provided.
- 4.If you study at a college or university, ask whether it takes part in Siemens SCE (Siemens Automation Cooperates with Education).
- You can practise the AS side (S7 CPUs and function blocks) with the free TIA Portal V21 trial and PLCSIM before moving to PCS 7.
Siemens product pagesiemens.comLegitimate free routes
- Siemens SITRAIN training: Official Siemens training courses for PCS 7 and PCS neo.
- Siemens SCE for educational institutions: Siemens programme for schools, colleges and universities.
- SIMATIC PCS neo in the Cloud: Pay-per-use cloud engineering: free tenant, but you must buy credits. Not free.
- STEP 7 and WinCC V21 trial: Free 21-day trial to learn S7 programming, which PCS 7 builds on.
Optional
Useful, not needed to finish the course.
- 02Free trial: 21 days
S7-PLCSIM V21 (TIA Portal) Trial
Siemens
- Runs on
- Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise 64-bit (24H2), Windows 10 Enterprise 2021 LTSC, or Windows Server 2022/2025. Windows 11 Home is supported only for the Basic editions.
- Account
- A free Siemens account registered for Industry Online Support (SiePortal)
- Size
- about 2.5 GB (ISO)
S7-PLCSIM V21 is offered as a 21-day trial on the same Siemens page as the STEP 7 and WinCC V21 trial. It needs STEP 7 V21 installed on the same PC.
Steps
- 1.Open the Siemens STEP 7 and WinCC V21 trial page (entry 109989774) and sign in.
- 2.Install STEP 7 V21 from the main TIA Portal ISO first.
- 3.Download S7-PLCSIM_V21.iso (2.5 GB) from the section Download S7-PLCSIM Standard V21.
- 4.Mount the ISO, run Start.exe as administrator and follow the setup.
- 5.In TIA Portal, select your CPU and click Start simulation to open PLCSIM.
- Siemens notes that the PLCSIM Standard V21 installation also includes S7-PLCSIM Advanced V8.0.
Official download pagesupport.industry.siemens.com
Checked against each maker's own page on 27 September 2026. Trial lengths and editions change; the maker's page is the final word.
Practise in the 3D lab
Practise the loop checks, alarm limits, operator screens and PID tuning that a DCS engineer does, in the Process Lab alongside your PCS 7 work.
- Loop checkProcess lab, about 35 minOpen in the lab (opens in a new tab): Loop check
- Tune the level loopProcess lab, about 45 minOpen in the lab (opens in a new tab): Tune the level loop
- Alarm rationalisationProcess lab, about 50 minOpen in the lab (opens in a new tab): Alarm rationalisation
- Build an operator screenProcess lab, about 45 minOpen in the lab (opens in a new tab): Build an operator screen
Optional. Skip it whenever you like: it never blocks your progress or your certificate.
Course project, about 20 hours
Edible-oil deodoriser on PCS 7: redundant AS 410, APL typicals in CFC, an SFC start-up and an acceptance test
Design, configure, test and document the PCS 7 control of a 400 t/day continuous deodoriser. You deliver your own narrative, I/O list, charts, alarm list and acceptance test record. You then check them against the sample pack that a Siemens Solution Partner would hand an oil refinery.
- 9documents in the pack
- 12steps to follow
- 6things to hand in
- 20 hof work, at your pace
- Network architectureSystem and Network Architecture: DEO-1 PCS 7 System
- HDSHardware Design Specification: AS 410-5H, ET 200M Allocation and Loading
- Control narrativeControl Narrative: Deodoriser DEO-1
- SDSSoftware Design Specification: CFC/SFC Structure and APL Block Typicals
- I/O listI/O List: ET 200M Station ET01, Marshalling Cabinet MC-DEO-1
- Alarm philosophyAlarm Philosophy: SEO Refinery (applied to DEO-1)
The project is optional practice. The certificate needs only the modules and the final assessment.
After the course, your next step
Show what you can do, then keep going in the same field.
A certificate you can verify
Finish the modules and pass the final assessment (15 questions, pass mark 60%) and you can add a certificate with a public verification page. One-off, US$28.99 for you. It is not a vendor credential.
Want a free certificate? Do the matching Free internship: 4 weeks, nothing to buy, with a free certificate of completion.
SCADA and HMI
Eight short weeks of tags, screens, alarms and trends: notes, diagrams, a few videos and practice in LADX Mini and free web SCADA tools. Finish weeks 1 to 4 and the final, then claim a free Internship Completion Certificate with your real dates and study hours, and a QR code anyone can scan to verify it. Training, not employment.
See the internshipRoles that use this skill
- SCADA engineer
- HMI developer
- Control room technologist
- Systems integrator
These are the kinds of roles where the skill is used. We make no promise of a job or an interview.
Plain notes
- Free: the whole course, the notes, the practice tasks, the final assessment and support from practising engineers.
- Paid, and optional: the course certificate, and the Engineer-verified internship (the Free internship costs nothing).
- No job promise: the course teaches a skill. It does not place you in a job.
- Lessons by: Instrumentation Tools, Control System Guru, Taskcoaz, PLC Tutor, juanpa. Independent creators; the lessons stream from their own channels. EDWartens wrote the study plan, notes, practice tasks and assessments.
Instrumentation Tools · Control System Guru · Taskcoaz · PLC Tutor · PLC Tutor · juanpa. If you are one of these creators and want a lesson removed or credited differently, write to info@edwartens.com.
Practise what you learn in the free 3D lab
Technical work is judged on what you can do: wiring, commissioning, finding a fault. Doing a task yourself teaches more than watching it a second time, and a lab lets you try it safely before you meet real equipment. It does not replace working on real hardware.
- Practise safely, so a mistake costs nothing.
- The lab checks your work like a site test, so you know when it is right.
- Free, in your browser, with nothing to install.
Why learn with EDWartens
What you get with this course, and what comes after it.
- Free from the first lesson to the final assessment.
- Practice in a free 3D lab in your browser, with nothing to install.
- Video lessons with written notes and a project.
- An optional certificate that anyone can verify online.
- Free internships to keep practising afterwards.
Common questions
Do I need PCS 7 installed?
No. PCS 7 is licensed software Siemens does not offer as a public download, so every practice task has a paper route and the videos show each step on a real system. If your workplace or college has a licence, use it; the concepts transfer to any PCS 7 version from 8 to the current 10.0.
Is this the same as the S7-1500 course?
No. PCS 7 is the DCS layer on top of STEP 7: charts, libraries, OS and plant hierarchy. Take the S7-300 course first if STEP 7 is new.
Where is PCS 7 used?
Around the world in refineries, fertiliser, petrochemicals, cement, power and pharma plants that chose Siemens as the DCS vendor.
Is the Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS course really free?
Yes. Every module, practice task and assessment. You create an account so your progress is saved and the assessments can be marked. The certificate is the only paid item, and only if you want it.
What certificate do I get, and is it a vendor qualification?
An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you pass the final assessment, with a verification code anyone can check. It is not a vendor credential and is never described as one.
Who made the video lessons in the Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS course?
The creators named in the Credits block at the foot of this page, on their own YouTube channels. EDWartens did not make the videos and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
How long does the Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS course take?
Plan on about 35 hours in all, including the video lessons, notes and practice tasks. It is self-paced, so you work through the fifteen modules at your own speed.
Do I have to use the lab?
No. The lab is optional practice. You can skip it whenever you like, and it never blocks your progress, the final assessment or your certificate.
Is the lab free?
Yes. Every lab level for this course opens in your browser, free, with nothing to install.
What topics does the Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS course cover, module by module?
The Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS course has 15 modules. It opens with "PCS 7 and Its Components", goes through "Hardware, AS and OS Configuration and the Multi-Project", "Functions, Function Blocks, Data Blocks and UDTs", "Custom Logic, Parameter View, Permissions and Features" and "Projects: Tank Station, Chiller, Compressor, Desalination" and ends with "Final Assessment". The full list with minutes is under "What you learn" on this page.
What can I do after the Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS course?
After the Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS course: Explain PCS 7 architecture, stations and buses; Configure AS, OS and the multi-project; Build CFC charts with run-time groups and STEP 7 blocks. These are the practical outcomes the course is written around, and the final assessment of 15 questions checks them.
What software and hardware do I need for the Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS course, and does it cost anything?
For the Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS course, software: SIMATIC PCS 7 is licensed engineering software with no public download. Use a licence at work or college, or do every practice task on paper; the videos show each step. Hardware: none required. The course itself is free.
Is the Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS course suitable for me, and what level is it?
Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS is rated intermediate. Intermediate. STEP 7 or TIA Portal basics assumed; the free S7-300 course is the ideal preparation. It is written for engineering students, apprentices, technicians and working engineers in process control, and takes about 35.4 hours at your own pace.
Which jobs use the skills from the Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS course?
Skills from the Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS course (for example: explain PCS 7 architecture, stations and buses) are used in roles such as SCADA engineer, HMI developer, control room technologist and systems integrator, and in control systems engineer work. The course gives you practical evidence of the skill; it does not promise a job, and employers decide on experience and interview.
Start free today
Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 DCS, at your own pace. Add the certificate only if you want one.