PLC
Abbreviation with 3 meanings
| Stands for | Public limited company |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 3 |
| Categories | Business & Finance, Science & Engineering, Education & Academia |
PLC has three meanings. The most common are Public limited company (company type) and Programmable logic controller (engineering); it can also stand for Professional learning community.
Meanings of PLC at a glance
| # | PLC stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Public limited company | Business & Finance › Company Type |
| 2 | Programmable logic controller | Science & Engineering › Engineering |
| 3 | Professional learning community | Education & Academia › K-12 Education |
1. Public limited company
Business & Finance · Company Type Abbreviations
UK and Irish company form whose shares may be offered to the public and traded on a stock exchange, though not every PLC is listed. A UK PLC needs allotted share capital of at least £50,000, at least two directors and a qualified company secretary.
Example: BP p.l.c. and Tesco PLC are both constituents of the FTSE 100 index.
Written PLC, plc or p.l.c.; the Welsh equivalent is ccc. At least a quarter of the nominal value of each share must be paid up before a UK PLC can start trading. Nigeria and Sri Lanka also use PLC, while India uses "Limited" for public companies.
2. Programmable logic controller
Science & Engineering · Engineering Abbreviations
Rugged industrial computer that controls machines and processes by reading sensors and switching motors, valves and other outputs according to a program. PLCs run assembly lines, packaging machines, conveyors, water treatment plants and traffic lights.
Example: The PLC stops the conveyor if the light curtain at the operator station is broken.
Dick Morley's team at Bedford Associates developed the Modicon 084 in 1968-1969 for General Motors' Hydra-Matic division, replacing banks of hard-wired relays. Programs are often written in ladder logic, which imitates relay diagrams, and IEC 61131-3 standardizes five programming languages. The Stuxnet worm, discovered in 2010, targeted Siemens PLCs in Iranian uranium centrifuges.
3. Professional learning community
Education & Academia · K-12 Education Abbreviations
Team of teachers who meet regularly to analyze student data, plan instruction and share strategies, guided by questions about what students should learn and how to respond when they do not. Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker popularized the model in the late 1990s.
Example: Our grade-level PLC meets every Wednesday to review exit-ticket data.
PLC time is often built into the master schedule through common planning periods or late-start days. Critics say the label is sometimes applied to ordinary staff meetings. In engineering, PLC means programmable logic controller.
Related abbreviations
More company type abbreviations
- PBC – Public benefit corporation
- PC – Professional corporation
- PCL – Public company limited
- PJSC – Public joint-stock company
- PLLC – Professional limited liability company
- PT – Perseroan Terbatas (limited liability company)
- Pte Ltd – Private limited company (Singapore)
- Pty Ltd – Proprietary limited company
See all 78 company type abbreviations →