GTB Page 1 12/17/99
Series 500/6MT Product Families
NO. SEA-035-99
DATE 12/17/99
PAGE
1 of 3
SUBJECT:
Manufacturing Discontinuation Notice for
SIMATIC Series 500 and 5TI/6MT Product Families
The SIMATIC Series 500 Product Family has had a long and successful life. Born in the early
1980's, the Series 500 Product Family was matured in the late 1980’s and is still being manufactured
10 years later in order to meet our customers needs. Siemens recognizes the need for this long-term
commitment for the products it provides for the industrial marketplace. Siemens also recognizes the
need to keep customers aware of the status of its older product lines.
Therefore, in keeping with the terms of the Classification Change Notice of October 1996 for
these products, Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc. is announcing the Discontinuation of
Manufacture of the SIMATIC Series 500 and 6MT Product Families as follows:
Family Date of last Manufacture Begin "Service Only" Minimum Repair Service
6MT Products June 2000 December 2000 December 2003
Series 500 Family December 2000 December 2001 December 2003
.
This early notification is being given in order to give our customers ample opportunity to
purchase adequate spares or make other adjustments in order to sustain their process for the
duration. This move is necessitated by the fast moving nature of the electronics industry with its
relentless elimination of older electronic component parts, combined with a substantial decline in
customer demand for these products, making continued production impractical. Fortunately, the
SIMATIC 505 line as the successor product line provides a viable alternative solution in most cases.
The SIMATIC Series 505 Product Family, the next generation to the Series 500, was
developed to simplify the automation control task and give our customers a competitive edge with
state-of-the-art performance at an affordable price. The transition of our customers from the Series
500 to Simatic 505 has been highly successful due to high compatibility and easy transferability of
the user programs via Tisoft or SoftShop
for Windows
, as well as universal I/O connectivity.
In addition, the new Series 500 PROFIBUS-DP RBC has been designed to preserve our
customer's investment in Series 500 I/O and associated field wiring by allowing easy re-connection of
Series 500 I/O bases to all Siemens PLC lines now and into the future via PROFIBUS-DP.
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