M
Richard Higginbotham wrote:
<clip>
>Theres nothing stopping APT from being updated, except Siemens. I'm
>sure there are plenty of companies/groups that would love to take it off
>Siemens hands, but Siemens won't do that either. They will make more money
>with one line of PLCs than they will with two. That just business.
>Everytime 505 users see Siemens buy out another company to get marketshare,
>we know whats comming.
When Siemens bought TI's PLC division, they didn't want TI's PLCs,
they wanted TI's customers. I won't be surprised to see the 505 series
discontinued. I'm rather surprised to see how long it lasted. Whether
Siemens then keeps many of those customers is of course another question.
Why wouldn't they put a 5x5 CPU in an S7-400 box and use the S7-400 I/O?
That would have eased some of these existing customers into the S7-400 line
with a bit less fuss.
>However, the S7-400 is more difficult to use than a SLC or ControlLogix
>processor and expensive. Nice PLC in some respects, bad programming packages
>productivity wise. Typical Harder is Better, philosophy.
I've used the S7-300, which is the smaller version. For a small to
mid-range PLC, it's overly complicated, and its all the fault of the
programming software and the documentation. The actual PLC isn't all that
more complicated than an S5, but the programming software is a maze, and the
documentation is scattered and disorganised. Of course, Step-5 was no great
prize either.
On the other hand, the S7-200 is completely different. It's nice,
simple, and well documented. The software is simple, so you can concentrate
on writing your program instead of fighting with the software.
<clip>
>Don't get me wrong, Siemens has/have had a lot of good people working for
>them. I know and have worked with quite a few. But the good intentions in
>Johnson City are no match for the corporate monolith in Germany. Theres no
>doubt in my mind how good the 505 line can be, nor that it will never be
>allowed to happen. Rumors abound that the Johnson City site (505 line) will
>be closing down soon.
<clip>
They also make the S7-200 series there, and I understood that that
product was a really big seller. Are you just talking about closing down 505
production, or are they moving S7-200 production somewhere else? Any rumours
you have are appreciated, and of course the more outrageous they are, the
more likely they are to be true (after all, this is Siemens we are talking
about).
**********************
Michael Griffin
London, Ont. Canada
**********************
<clip>
>Theres nothing stopping APT from being updated, except Siemens. I'm
>sure there are plenty of companies/groups that would love to take it off
>Siemens hands, but Siemens won't do that either. They will make more money
>with one line of PLCs than they will with two. That just business.
>Everytime 505 users see Siemens buy out another company to get marketshare,
>we know whats comming.
When Siemens bought TI's PLC division, they didn't want TI's PLCs,
they wanted TI's customers. I won't be surprised to see the 505 series
discontinued. I'm rather surprised to see how long it lasted. Whether
Siemens then keeps many of those customers is of course another question.
Why wouldn't they put a 5x5 CPU in an S7-400 box and use the S7-400 I/O?
That would have eased some of these existing customers into the S7-400 line
with a bit less fuss.
>However, the S7-400 is more difficult to use than a SLC or ControlLogix
>processor and expensive. Nice PLC in some respects, bad programming packages
>productivity wise. Typical Harder is Better, philosophy.
I've used the S7-300, which is the smaller version. For a small to
mid-range PLC, it's overly complicated, and its all the fault of the
programming software and the documentation. The actual PLC isn't all that
more complicated than an S5, but the programming software is a maze, and the
documentation is scattered and disorganised. Of course, Step-5 was no great
prize either.
On the other hand, the S7-200 is completely different. It's nice,
simple, and well documented. The software is simple, so you can concentrate
on writing your program instead of fighting with the software.
<clip>
>Don't get me wrong, Siemens has/have had a lot of good people working for
>them. I know and have worked with quite a few. But the good intentions in
>Johnson City are no match for the corporate monolith in Germany. Theres no
>doubt in my mind how good the 505 line can be, nor that it will never be
>allowed to happen. Rumors abound that the Johnson City site (505 line) will
>be closing down soon.
<clip>
They also make the S7-200 series there, and I understood that that
product was a really big seller. Are you just talking about closing down 505
production, or are they moving S7-200 production somewhere else? Any rumours
you have are appreciated, and of course the more outrageous they are, the
more likely they are to be true (after all, this is Siemens we are talking
about).
**********************
Michael Griffin
London, Ont. Canada
**********************