Backup and visibility while not having the software.

bill4807

Member
Join Date
Mar 2013
Location
michigan
Posts
314
Interesting question looking for recommendations.

What do you all do if you wanted to reference back to a previous project (PLC/HMI program) but no longer have the software to do so?
For instance if at company (A) we used mitsubishi/AB exclusively, now I move companys and strictly use AD and fanuc. No longer have mitsubishi or rockwell software.

But sometimes I can't remember how I did everything and want to reference back..
Do you print to PDF all your programs? Any other ways or trade secrets?

Thanks for reading.
 
I'm not a lawyer but it's probably best not to take anything tangible (printouts, computer files) with you when leaving a job. You have your memory but be careful about exactly replicating anything which could be considered proprietary. You could ask your former company for help. The situation of your leaving could affect any success at that.
 
It does get a bit tricky, a lot of companies will stipulate that they own any software or intellectual property that you produce whilst working for them.

Mine wouldn't know a derived function block if it fell on the board room table with a large bang, so I'm not that worried about keeping copies of common logic. I wouldn't however take copies of entire plant logic. That could get legally tricky.

But my contract has no super restrictive clauses.

I think notes of your thought process would be the best way to go for helping you later on. But who has time to write those before you've thought about needing them!
 
[..], a lot of companies will stipulate that they own any software or intellectual property that you produce whilst working for them.
Unless thay have stated something else in writing, then they definitely own everything you have made when in their employment.
If you need to take sample programs or notes with you, you should ask for permission.
If you have notes that are of a generic nature (how to fix a certain kind of problem for example), then that would in principle also be the former employers property, but I guess noone will complain if you take those with you. I would say "I am taking these generic notes with me", and if noone complains assume it is OK.
 
Last edited:
Saffa, (common logic) that's exactly the word I was looking to use.

JesperMP, . I do have some "generic notes as well.

Thanks all for the comments.
 
You worked for company x for several years using brand(s) a,b,c software.
you have left the company and are now working for company y and would like some information because you cannot remember how you did a certain task

Here's the million dollar question !

Does your current company COMPETE with your former company ?
do they share the same customers?
do they make the same or similar products?
are you doing machine / system upgrade work for a customer that your former company can do?

if you answer yes to any of these questions, then I would say that you are out of luck. all you need to do is get a job that your former company was bidding on and lost, then the lawyers get involved.

just my opinion.

james.
 
when I worked in a shop all the PLC/HMI programs I wrote I told them were my works (actually classified as Works-Of-Art by the US Copyright law) and I put a Copyright (yyyy) ME in the comments of each program. And all my HMI's had an Author/Ego screen (sometimes not accessable) stating I wrote and held the copyright. Never had a problem with them.

As for intellectual property rights on controls I design now, if the customer has a way or formula they use and demand, then that remains their intellectual property and I won't re-use it on a future project unless I get specific permission from them.
 
James,
That is definitly the million dollar question isn't it. I am not necessarily leaving my company as of now but the question was bouncing around in my mind about what others have experienced. Most of what I do is not highly sought after to be protected. (As far as I can tell).

Aabeck,
That is interesting.
-------
Although I did not intend for this post to turn into "legal " talk. I can see and understand why it did.
 

Similar Topics

Hello all, I have an ABB PLC (PM573) and it has without MC card. I need to take backup from PLC to PC (in automation builder v2.7 ). My...
Replies
8
Views
193
Hello everyone, In a factory where we installed Citect 7.20 the computer began to show the first signs of end of life. They never considered...
Replies
0
Views
57
if we need to take back up of Siemens CPU(s7300 /s7400) with non siemens slave profibus nodes without their gsd files and when we restore it in...
Replies
0
Views
67
HI all, I have a backup from a Series 7000 Cognex camera. I am trying to restore and see the vision tools used in the job. Can I restore those...
Replies
0
Views
55
I'm running into a problem when trying to use the RSLinx Backup Restore Utility where it throws an error when it tries to restore a backup. The...
Replies
6
Views
455
Back
Top Bottom