Engineering judgement
Decisions are based on how the plant needs to operate, what is installed and what can be tested and maintained.
About Thomas Brown Controls
Controls engineering with direct technical ownership.
Thomas Brown Controls is a Teesside-based controls engineering business supporting industrial and power projects from functional design and software through FAT, SAT and commissioning.
Founder
Established by Josh Brown.
Josh founded TBC after working across EC&I, controls and electrical engineering, progressing from hands-on project delivery into senior technical and Engineering Director roles.
Much of that experience was gained on upper-tier COMAH petrochemical sites, delivering process-control work around live plant. The work covered PLC and SCADA systems, sequences and interlocks, instrumentation, shutdown interfaces, commissioning and brownfield modification.
That process background is complemented by power-management and switchgear controls, including LV/MV automation, generator and ATS schemes, load shedding and restoration, metering, PV and BESS interfaces, and the electrical design needed to make those systems work on site.
TBC is built around that overlap. The aim is straightforward: define how the system should operate, engineer the software and electrical interfaces properly, then prove it through testing and commissioning.
- BEng
- MSc
- TÜV Functional Safety Engineer
Engineering approach
Direct technical ownership from enquiry to handover.
The person discussing the scope remains close to the engineering and delivery. Where a project needs additional specialist resource, it can be brought in without adding unnecessary layers between the client and the technical work.
Whole-system view
PLC, SCADA, switchgear, electrical design, communications and third-party equipment are treated as one operating system.
Clear records
Assumptions, interfaces, revisions and test results are kept explicit so the project can be followed and handed over properly.
Direct communication
Technical questions stay close to the engineer responsible for resolving them.
Experience base
Process control at the core, with power-management and electrical-control experience alongside it.
TBC is best suited to projects where control software has to work properly with the real process, electrical distribution system and site installation.
Process controlSequences, permissives, interlocks, instrumentation, control philosophies and brownfield changes on operational plant.
Power managementGenerator and ATS control, LV/MV switchgear automation, load shedding and restoration, metering, PV and BESS coordination.
PLC, SCADA & HMIControl applications, operator interfaces, alarms, diagnostics, trends, data and industrial communications.
Electrical integrationControl schematics, I/O, networks and the interfaces between software, switchgear and installed equipment.
Project deliveryFunctional design, FAT, SAT, IST, commissioning, fault finding, modifications and final handover.
Working principles
How TBC works.
- Agree how the system is meant to operate before writing code.
- Make interface responsibilities clear before they become site issues.
- Produce drawings and software that another engineer can test and fault-find.
- Keep assumptions, changes and test evidence under control as the job develops.
- Use the level of engineering the project actually needs.
Need a controls package defined, delivered or recovered?
Share the scope, drawings or current problem and TBC can set out a practical route forward.