Our systems have historical data servers. And I have yet to find a customer that doesn't let you debug a program online. Is not like your hurting anything you are just monitoring.
Also sometimes the bug is obvious when you look at the logic, and just reported to engineering for a fix or fix it yourself.
So report steps taken by operator to create the issue. Then look and the logic conditions, and see how to prevent it.
Most machines have steps to follow for the operator in these one offs operators have done their own sequence that wasn't predicted in the logic to prevent an issue.
I agree that going online and monitoring is a relatively low rsk activity, and few customers would object to it.
The trick is when it comes time to testing the changes. I've had plenty of times where I sat on the plant floor for hours waiting for a break in production that never came. More and more plants (at least in my neck of the woods) are running 24/7, and finding ways to work through breaks. If you're lucky, you can charge for that waiting by the hour.
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