Somebody else installed it. It doesn't work. Now what?
We take over automation projects that other integrators left behind: malfunctioning programming, commissioning that never finished, recovery routines that don't recover. It is a recurring theme in our project history — the 2024 Manufacturing Outlook profile of the firm picked it out of the case studies.
01What we usually walk into
If any of this sounds like your line, we've seen it.
The code is unreadable
No comments, no tag naming convention, no documentation, and the person who wrote it isn't answering. Nobody at your plant can safely change anything.
Commissioning never finished
The integrator left with the line running at reduced rate, a list of open items, and a promise to come back.
It never hit the quoted rate
The cell works, but not at the cycle time it was sold at, and nobody can tell you which constraint is binding.
The same fault keeps repeating
The recovery routine doesn't recover. Operators have a workaround, and you're absorbing the downtime every week.
02How it goes
Assess first. Then fix what's actually broken.
We don't quote a rebuild before we understand the failure. The assessment is deliberately small and it ends with a straight answer.
- 01
You tell us what's happening
Symptoms, what changed, what's been tried. A phone call is usually enough to know whether we're the right people.
- 02
We assess the system
We go through the controller program, the drawings if they exist, and the failure itself, on site where it matters.
- 03
You get a straight answer
What's wrong, whether it's recoverable or needs rewriting, what it costs, and how long. Including if the answer is that it isn't worth fixing.
- 04
We make it run
Repair, re-commission, and document it properly, so your team can maintain what you're left with.
03Common questions
How quickly can you look at it?
Call us and tell us what's happening. For a line that's down we'll tell you the same day whether we can help and when we can be there. If we're not the right people, we'll say that too.
Do you need the original integrator's cooperation?
It helps, but we rarely get it. Most of this work starts with the controller program and whatever documentation exists, and we work back from there.
What does an assessment cost?
We scope the assessment before we start so you know the number up front. It's deliberately small: it exists to tell you what's actually wrong and what fixing it involves, before anyone commits to a bigger project.
Can you take over the system permanently?
Yes. Most recovery work ends with us documenting the system properly and handing it back in a state your team can maintain. Whether we stay involved after that is up to you.
Will you have to rewrite everything?
Usually not. Rewriting is expensive and risky, and a lot of failed installs are recoverable once someone works out what the code is actually doing. We'll tell you which case you're in.
Issue for construction
Tell us what's not working.
A description of the fault and what's been tried is enough to start. You don't need the drawings; most of the time they don't exist anyway.