DISCLAIMER: I have NOT done any training work for Tesla – and I don't know ANYTHING about what's "going on" with their automation (or lack thereof) – beyond what I have read in this particular thread ... (maybe someone could please post a link to a news report – or something along those lines) ...
anyway ... this comment caught my attention:
The main problem Tesla has is not having standards for the integrators. Too many integrators, to many different styles of programming, its hard for the maintenance department to keep up. But I heard they are implementing standards for the new assembly lines.
I'm just going to add the following thoughts to the conversation ... please feel free to ignore them ...
I always invite my training customers to send in some samples of the PLC project files that they use in their operations – so that I can cover the specific troubleshooting and maintenance skills that their employees will require on the job ... note that not all of my customers are allowed to do this – since they are government-related, defense contractors, pharmaceutical companies, and so on ... in situations where their files are considered "proprietary" or "trade secret" information, we just do the best we can with whatever information is available ...
what I've started noticing in several instances over the last few years is that some of the largest PLC project files are now being written ENTIRELY in plain old-fashioned Ladder Logic format ... specifically, some of these are HUGE projects for LARGE companies ... in large files like this, I've been used to seeing stuff like Structured Text, Function Block Diagrams, Equipment Phases, and so on ... in other words, formats that many programmers consider to be "modern" programming techniques – and therefore more "efficient" to develop than the old-fashioned Ladder Logic format that PLC programmers have traditionally used ...
I've asked several of my customers about this – and this is the reply that I've been given ...
our company has been burned too many times in the past with all of these "new-fangled bells-and-whistles" techniques that the latest generation of programmers have fallen in love with – so we're now writing the specifications for our new projects to eliminate anything except Ladder Logic ... the only reason for this is that our in-house maintenance technicians have little or no experience with interpreting the new formats ... equipment downtime is killing us – especially when we have to rely on - and wait for - some outside vendor with the necessary knowledge to arrive and get our equipment back up and running ...
so ...
as I said earlier, I am NOT commenting about Tesla ... I have no knowledge of what they are experiencing ...
but I can tell you that from what I've been seeing lately, the pendulum has started swinging away from "new modern efficient" methods of programming – back toward "plain old-fashioned" Ladder Logic ... note that this is being driven by the CUSTOMERS' demands (read: "money") and we all know that "money talks" ...
so ...
too many different styles of programming, it's hard for the maintenance department to keep up. But I heard they are implementing standards for the new assembly lines.
some of us might see the proverbial "hand writing on the wall" in that statement from Remff ...
peace to all ...