Abstract: Disclosed is a system for monitoring and controlling movement of a hoist along a line of treatment tanks of an electroplating apparatus. Hoist-mounted optical sensing units of the system have pickups formed of opposed lines of infrared emitting diodes and phototransistors which interact with elements of plates fixed at work stations along the tanks to provide station identification and centering information relative to the hoist. A microprocessor-based controller on the hoist processes data from the sensing units and from a rotary encoder attached to a hoist drive motor and, under direction of an off-hoist main computer, rapidly and accurately positions the hoist at selected stations in a desired operating sequence.