Honestly, who programmed this PLC? How is it even operating?

Ill cut right to it.

If you are a plant manger or engineering manager who knows nothing about PLC programming, by all means please ask your integrator for some type of documentation of their PLC programming methodology. Or else you could be stuck with a machine that provides you with more downtime than productivity. At PESIA we utilize Cascade Logic programming methodology (https://www.isa.org/products/cascading-logic-a-machine-control-methodology-1) along with other programming standards to ensure our customers machinery runs efficiently.

Problem: PLC not programmed correctly.

Problem: "How are we going to calculate cycle time!"

This is what the plant manager screamed as the CEO and corporate managers began to demand accurate production data for efficient labor planning and forecasting. I researched a product that calculates cycle time and came across a production display offered by Vorne Industries (Real-Time Production Monitoring System | Vorne). The display provides a variety of features (OEE, Downtime, etc..) that will assist any company desiring to move towards a lean culture.

After the installation and programming of the device, the plant manager was very pleased with the visibility of the plant floor production data right at his desktop in "real time". Not to mention access to the different KPI metrics. In fact, he was so pleased that he convinced the CEO of the entire corporation to mandate that all facilities install the displays to form an Enterprise network.