Service 06 · Lifecycle Services

How long after acceptance
does your acceptance record still hold?

Change Verification · Runtime reference · Evidence over years

In most plants the honest answer is: until the first change. After that it holds formally and no longer in substance — without anyone being able to name the moment. This is exactly where Lifecycle Services start.

01 — Why this is needed

A passed acceptance test is a snapshot
of a sample.

It names two limits: the section that was checked and the moment it was checked. The first is closed by the Behavior Reference (BR), because what is checked is what is defined rather than what happened to occur. The second stays open as long as the comparison happens once instead of running along.

The silent devaluation

Every change voids the evidence

A changed parameter, a replaced sensor, an adjusted recipe. The evidence that held before no longer holds after — but it does not disappear, it stays in the folder and keeps being quoted.

WhiteBox does not mean you can see the code. WhiteBox means conformity becomes decidable instead of a matter of judgment.
The runtime reference

The comparison runs along

The Behavior Reference (BR) is present on the machine at runtime. In operation, every deviation from the defined behavior is detected against it. When the target behavior changes, the changed reference is transmitted again — reference and runtime reference remain one and the same statement.

The reference closes the sample. The runtime reference closes the moment.
02 — What you get

Four services
for the time after handover.

Lifecycle Services are not a maintenance contract for software. They keep up the statement that held at the end of the project — across changes, staff turnover and years.

01
Change Verification

Checking against the changed reference

A change starts in the Behavior Reference (BR), not in the code. From the changed reference the affected derivations are renewed and checked against it. The evidence is renewed, not overwritten.

02
Operating with deviations

What the runtime reference reports

What is detected is the deviation from the defined behavior. The defined behavioral space is the checked space: what is not modeled is not covered. That limit is part of the statement — otherwise it would be a promise.

03
Reference upkeep

So the model does not age

New operating modes, changed products, extended modules. What is added to the line is added to the reference — otherwise the uncovered space grows unnoticed.

04
Evidence Record

What was changed, when and why

One entry per change: what was changed, in which reference version, who released it, what was re-checked, with what result, and what remained open. That keeps the chain of evidence readable years later.

03 — The result

Evidence
that does not silently expire.

The result is not an availability promise but the ability to say, at any moment, what the line is currently checked against — and since when.

What is detected is the deviation from the defined behavior.
The defined behavioral space is the checked space: what is not modeled is not covered. That is why reference upkeep and operating with deviations belong together — a comparison running against an outdated model would be the more dangerous version of none at all.
Change Verification record

Per change: changed reference version, affected derivations, scope re-checked, result.

Evidence Record

The continued chain of all changes with six entries each — readable without us and without the person who made the change.

Deviation report

What came up in operation against the runtime reference, stating whether it lay inside or outside the modeled space.

Maintained reference

The current Behavior Reference (BR) in the exchange format, with version status and release note.

Open assumptions

Anything that could not be checked for reasons of time or access is marked in the record — not silently contained in it.

04 — Process and gates

One cycle,
one gate per change.

A gate is a decision, not a date. In operation the same one repeats: whether after the change there is again an integrated, operable, checkable system.

Phase
What happens
Gate
Change in the reference

The target behavior is changed and released in the Behavior Reference (BR) — before anyone touches the code.

Behavior Gate

Derivation and check

The affected derivations are renewed, the check runs against the changed reference. Where a digital twin exists, there first.

Verification Gate

Return to operation

The changed reference is transmitted again. An entry in the Evidence Record, so the current status stays determinable without asking.

05 — Scope

What is included
— and what is a different service.

An offer does not become stronger by covering everything. It becomes stronger when its edge is known.

Included
Change Verification

Change in the reference, renewal of the affected derivations, check against the changed reference, record.

Reference upkeep and Evidence Record

Continuation of the model and of the chain of evidence, so that together they carry the current status.

Availability by agreement

Response times are set in the contract. Support presupposes an ongoing working relationship.

Not included
No plant maintenance

Mechanics, electrics and upkeep remain trades of their own and stay with your partners.

No first reference

If a section of the line has no Behavior Reference (BR) yet, that is the PTF- & Behavior-Reference-Pilot.

No extension of scope

A new section of the line is a Behavior Defined Machine (BDM) Engineering Project, not a change.

No conformity assessment

The service provides material for the evidence trail. Conformity assessment remains with the machine builder.

06 — Where this fits

Where this service sits
— and why it leaves the end open.

The order is the path, not the revenue. Lifecycle Services are the sixth step and the only one without an end. The Behavior Reference (BR) is not after-the-fact documentation of the code. It exists before the code — in operation that means a change starts in the reference, not in the controller. Verification asks: was it built right? Validation asks: was the right thing built? After every change the first question is open again — which is exactly why it is called Change Verification and not change management.

What the method does not do

What is detected is the deviation from the defined behavior. The defined behavioral space is the checked space: what is not modeled is not covered.

The question every lifecycle starts from

When was something last changed on your line — and what has held since then?

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