Konecranes Portal provides a single point of access to our digital customer platforms for industrial equipment, port solutions and lift trucks. View maintenance information and TRUCONNECT data, browse the store for spare parts, accessories and manuals, and discover what Konecranes has to offer.
If your warehouse operations rely on a Siemens S7-300 PLC, it's time to start planning ahead. Siemens has moved this product family into its formal end-of-life process, and while nothing changes on your site today, the window for a calm, well-planned upgrade is narrower than it looks.
The S7-300 has been a dependable workhorse in process and warehouse automation for decades, which is exactly why so many sites still depend on it. But Siemens stopped mass production some time ago, and the product has now entered the product cancellation stage. In practice, that means Siemens will still sell spares and offer repairs, but only from existing stock. And because mass production has ended, lead times for spares will be long and the cost will continue to rise.
The S7-300's replacement, the S7-1500, has been on the market since 2015, so it's now a mature, well-proven platform in its own right, not an unfamiliar new technology. That makes the case for upgrading more straightforward than it might have been a few years ago.
On the Siemens side, the phase-out follows a predictable path. The next phase is full discontinuation where Siemens will only handle warranty claims on equipment already purchased. Sourcing new spares or getting support outside that warranty simply won't be an option. Once those warranties expire, the product reaches formal end of life.
Siemens typically allows around ten years between announcing the phase-out and full discontinuation. For the S7-300, that clock started in 2023, putting full discontinuation around 2033. The important caveat is that this ten-year figure applies to the newest S7-300 models. If the units on your site are older, they may already be much further along that path, potentially with only a handful of years of realistic support left.
Eight years might sound like plenty of time, but you have to factor in what it takes to plan an upgrade—building the business case, securing budget, getting the quote and scheduling the work around live operations. Start that process too late, and you risk arriving at the point where a single PLC failure could mean parts simply aren't available, and a critical part of your warehouse stops running with no quick fix in sight.
The financial risk moves in the same direction. Spare parts prices are only going to keep climbing, and stock availability will keep shrinking. A planned upgrade on your own timeline is a very different proposition, and a very different cost, from an emergency replacement forced by a failure with no fallback.
The first step isn't necessarily replacing hardware. It's finding out exactly what you have. Many sites have a mix of PLC ages and models across different lines or areas, and the level of risk can vary from one to the next. Siemens can produce an audit document, for a small fee, the provides recommended actions in a simple traffic light system. It's a useful way to see where you actually stand and to build a clear, evidence-based case for budget and planning.
From there, an upgrade strategy can be built around your operational priorities, sequencing the highest-risk equipment first and working through the rest on a timeline that fits your site rather than one dictated by a parts shortage.