Hi,
Does anyone know where I can get information on Siemens PLC hardware product lifecycle support? i.e. How long a CPU etc. will be supported before it becomes a legacy product.
Thanks
Paul.
I think they say their general promise is that spare parts and hotline support will be available for 10 years after announcement of discontinuation. I can't find a link to support that, though. On the down side, just because they promise spare parts & support doesn't mean it will be available for new purchase for very long. I've seen things transition from one part number to another within 6 months to a year. On the plus side, even if the identical part number isn't for sale, the new version is usually "spare part compatible". This means you can download the old program into it with no changes, and the system will run just fine.
The phase out of the multipanel series (MP277 etc) wasn't as smooth as it could have been. They had to make a new part number for the spare parts, and you need to recompile the HMI project before you can re-download. Similar story when the S7-1200 CPU went from FW v3 to V4. They upgraded a lot of the security protocols, and you had to recompile the project before you could download to it. Neither was a showstopper problem, just wasn't quite as smooth as you would expect/hope.
If you search for each part number on the support page, you will see product announcements, discontinuation alerts, and successor products. For one example CPU, see the 1st gen 1516 linked below. It lists the date it was announced, the date it was canceled, and there is a tab for the successor CPU. If you click on the product announcement, it takes you to the actual product release document.
https://support.industry.siemens.com/cs/pd/97138?pdti=pi&lc=en-US
