Year2000 Public Access
select: Customer Priority Notification #9915
MAS Is Not Year 2000 ReadyAlternative Solutions [you will need to download the .doc file] [I had done a web page on this in November 1999, PLC's will they croak? It appears that the bandaids and bailing wire fixes are holding, I hope permanently, but we keep hearing about explosions and unplanned shut downs. These maybe from the fact that the faculties are running full bore and 90% or greater and for longer than expected - why are they running at full bore? So would say the demand is higher than expected -- oh, sure okay. When systems are run at the maximum things will break down. Given the sparseness of the info we can only guess, and I'm a realistic pessimist so I believe it is worst case untill proven otherwise -- maybe I should of learned from the rollover going so smoothly. [the following is a fair use / educational purpose quotation]

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AFFECTED HARDWARE PRODUCT: MAS Manufacturing Supervisor
AFFECTED SOFTWARE RELEASE: ALL
DATE: July 198, 1999
CUSTOMER PRIORITY NOTIFICATION # 9915
CPNs are Proprietary to Honeywell and Honeywell Customers Only
This Document Will Be Archived On The Honeywell TotalPlant symbol 226 \f "Symbol" \s 12 b Support Online Internet Web Site.
http://support.totalplant.honeywell.com

TO: All Modular Automation Systems (MAS) Manufacturing Supervisor Customers
SUBJECT: MAS Is Not Year 2000 Ready Alternative Solutions
PROBLEM SUMMARY:

The MAS Manufacturing Supervisor, which was formally withdrawn from sale in March 1996, is not Year 2000 Ready. The system does not support dates or times past December 31, 1999. The product is based on a proprietary third party operating system that is no longer supported by the vendor. Therefore, it is not feasible for Honeywell to make the required changes to make the product Year 2000 Ready.
CUSTOMER OBSERVABLE SYMPTOMS:

At the time of roll over to the year 2000, the system clock will revert back to 1970. Any MAS Manufacturing Supervisor system that uses history points may hang up or crash when the clock rolls over to 2000. NOTE: Due to the wide variety of process control equipment configurations and site specific control strategies, it is the responsibility of each customer to assess the potential impact of this problem to their process & facilities.
ESTIMATED PROBABILITY OF OCCURRENCE:
100% of all MAS Manufacturing Supervisor systems are not Year 2000 Ready.
ACTIONS: [emphasis mine]

The only solution that Honeywell recommends is that all customers migrate to the PlantScape SCADA system. A substantial discount is being offered to customers choosing this alternative.

For customers that choose not to migrate to the PlantScape SCADA product the attached document provides a work-around procedure to set the clock back to 1995. The system should operate correctly, however the day of week indications will be incorrect, and some effort will be required to re-establish history collection. NOTE: This procedure is provided AS IS. Honeywell has performed some limited testing, but makes no guarantees, warranties, or representations regarding the completeness, accuracy, safety, or effectiveness of the procedure.
ACTIONS: (continued)

Honeywell does not recommend, advise, or endorse the use or implementation of the work-around procedure. Further, Honeywell does not assume any liability or responsibility for damages resulting from use or reliance on the work around procedure. Customers who elect to use the work around procedure do so at their own risk.
[the rest was snipped, go see it for yourself]

YEAR 2000 READINESS DISCLOSURE

CPN # 9915 INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION and CONTROL Page

page 1 of 4

-- (perry@ofuzzy1.com), August 09, 2000

Answers

Oops, here's the format fixed, I hope.

Year 2000 Public Access

select: Customer Priority Notification #9915

MAS Is Not Year 2000 ReadyAlternative Solutions

[you will need to download the .doc file]

[I had done a web page on this in November 1999, PLC's will they croak? It appears that the bandaids and bailing wire fixes are holding, I hope permanently, but we keep hearing about explosions and unplanned shut downs. These maybe from the fact that the faculties are running full bore and 90% or greater and for longer than expected - why are they running at full bore? So would say the demand is higher than expected -- oh, sure okay. When systems are run at the maximum things will break down. Given the sparseness of the info we can only guess, and I'm a realistic pessimist so I believe it is worst case untill proven otherwise -- maybe I should of learned from the rollover going so smoothly.]

[the following is a fair use / educational purpose quotation]

-- (perry@ofuzzy1.com), August 09, 2000.