Semi-automatic assessment of lack of control code documentation in automated production systems

Abstract

Abstract This paper first examines the current state of industrial practice of documentation in automated production systems based on a large-scale survey in machine and plant manufacturing proving that companies still face major challenges in documentation. However, insufficient documentation creates friction since it may increase the risk of malfunction and high costs, and impede system development due to lack of traceability, especially for control software being one of the main functionality carriers. Therefore, secondly, a risk priority indicator RPI4DD is proposed to systematically capture the lack of control code documentation to avoid undesired costs due to inadequate documentation.