A PLC nearing end of life. A program nobody still understands. A sequence that has to change on a running line. We mainly work on existing installations — and also develop control systems for new processes alongside the engineering companies that design them.
In most cases the installation already exists, and we didn’t build it. These are the situations we get called about most often.
STEP 5, RSLogix 5, an operator panel configured with ProTool — or no spare modules left. Before choosing the target, we survey how the machine actually behaves and check whether the cabinet can accommodate the new equipment: available space, power supply, terminals, and whether the drawings match the existing wiring. The new program is validated in a workshop FAT; where necessary, the cabinet is adapted in the same job, with its wiring and as-built drawings brought up to date. The cutover scope is bounded to fit your shutdown window.
An instrument, a drive, an inspection camera or a machine with its own PLC has to be added to an existing line. We work with the system specialist to define the required exchanges: states, results and faults are brought into the PLC; commands and parameters are sent to the system. We then adapt the sequences and your supervision views.
A new packaging format, a cycle time to raise, a station that has to sequence differently. It runs from a few hours of changes to a full rewrite of the sequence. There is no test line and no improvised rollback — what can be tested off production is, the work happens in a planned window, and the previous program version stays ready to reload.
How many hours has that motor actually run? How many strokes has that cylinder made since it was replaced? Hour and cycle counters are added in the PLC, held in retentive memory so a power cut does not wipe them, with timestamping and a reset at part replacement. The values feed your CMMS or your ERP: you plan on real wear, not on the calendar.
On a qualified machine, changing a sequence is not just programming: it takes the specification, the protocol, the execution, and QA’s approval. IQ/OQ protocols written and then executed, deviations recorded as they arise and closed before the report. We work under your quality system and your procedures.
The person who wrote it has left, the machine builder won’t answer, there is no documentation, and every change becomes a gamble. As long as nobody holds the keys to the program, the smallest fault costs hours of downtime and any improvement is blocked. The durable answer is rarely to chase the fault: it is to take back control of the control system — PLC, HMI, a documented program — and own it again.
For a new process, we develop the control system from the functional analysis agreed with the engineering company. On an existing installation, a retrofit replaces the control system on a machine whose mechanics are sound; a revamp also touches the power side and the cabinet. In every case, the agreed scope sits under one contract and one point of contact.
We design neither the industrial process nor the machine: we answer for the control system we deliver — and that scope is set out in our commercial proposal, not discovered during the work. On an installation in production, what gets modified, how it is tested and how it is rolled back are agreed before work starts: working on a running machine is never risk-free, and nobody gains from pretending otherwise.
At provisional acceptance you have six months to report any anomaly not yet found, for us to correct. On installations we built, we stay the point of contact; for a machine park we know, a support contract can be discussed.
You receive the complete source project, and you own the code developed specifically for your installation. You remain free to have it maintained or enhanced by the partner of your choice, including by replacing LA²SOFT building blocks with their own where needed.
In a regulated environment, making the machine run is not enough: you have to demonstrate in writing that it does what was specified, and that the data it produces is reliable.
Before founding LA²SOFT, William spent several years as an employed industrial automation specialist at a major international pharmaceutical group’s site: writing technical specifications, writing and executing IQ/OQ protocols, in constant exchange with quality assurance.
That is personal experience gained with an employer — not a LA²SOFT client reference. In a firm our size it works like any other skill: one person carries it, and that is the person you will talk to.
Functional specification, design specification, a traceability matrix linking every requirement to a test. If you write the URS, we help you phrase the system side — but the URS stays your document. On the scope we deliver, the protocol is approved before execution, never after; deviations are recorded as they arise and closed before the report. PQ covers your process: it is yours, we contribute to it.
Audit trail, named accounts — so no shared login on the operator panel — time synchronisation, access rights, backup and tested restore, identified program versions, printable and archivable reports. Annex 11 and Part 11 are your site’s framework: our job is that the system can hold up to it, not to tell you that it does.
GAMP 5 is a guide, not a certification: nobody is “GAMP 5 certified”, and both the risk-based approach and the system categorisation are your decisions. We work to your SOPs and your change control, we produce the evidence, your QA approves it. We do not run a site’s validation programme, we do not act as quality assurance, and we sign neither certificates of conformity nor regulatory attestations. Our credible scope is one machine, one line, one system — not a plant.
Not in a regulated environment? None of this is imposed on you. The same habits — writing before coding, testing offline, tracing what changed — mostly serve to get your line running again on schedule. The level of documentation is your call.
Older generations matter as much as current ones — it is often the reason we get called.
Your brand or generation isn’t on the list? Tell us which one — you’ll get a straight answer on whether we take it on.
LA²SOFT ENGINEERING was founded in 2021, in Liège. You deal directly with William or Miguel. Between us, we carry out most projects ourselves, from engineering through to recommissioning the installations. Depending on the job, one of us works alone or we work together. When another automation specialist takes part in delivery, we continue to lead the project and remain accountable for it. William and Miguel discuss ongoing projects regularly, even when only one of them is on site.
over thirteen years in industrial automation
seven years in industrial automation, with a broader engineering perspective beyond control systems
Design and works by the industrial electricians we work with, under LA²SOFT contract.
Depending on the workload and the project, an automation specialist appointed by LA²SOFT may work alongside us or carry out some or all of the work. We define the scope, coordinate the work and remain accountable for the project.
Before our first meeting, we ask for any documents already available: electrical drawings, manuals, specifications or a functional analysis, and the source projects for the PLC and supervision applications. We then meet with your teams to understand your needs, constraints and ways of working.
For an existing installation, building that understanding usually involves one or more site visits and technical surveys. For a new process, it starts from the requirements and decisions already in place. We continue the discussions for as long as needed; once the context is sufficiently clear, our proposal sets out our understanding of the situation — technical and operational — together with the solutions proposed.
We are not currently recruiting, but speculative applications remain welcome. Whether you are experienced, at the start of your career or coming from another trade, tell us above all about your drive to understand, learn and question your habits.
Tell us what you tried to understand, how you approached it, and what you learned or reconsidered along the way.