Introduction
The Equans Smart Factory (ESF) software product is a state‑of‑the‑art Manufacturing Execution System used by more than 130 factories worldwide. Its applications vary from feed and food production facilities to chemical plants. Over the past twenty years, a wide variety of functionalities and communication interfaces has been developed.
In recent years, we have seen a transformation from manually written PLC software to fully generated PLC code. By adopting automated code generation, we have significantly reduced the number of engineering hours required.
Keywords: PLC code development, engineering, AI, AI agents, Copilot
Technologies: TIA Portal, Copilot
Tools: Jira, Confluence, MS Office
Description
Your assignment is to research, design, and evaluate a Proof of Concept (PoC) that demonstrates how AI can generate PLC code for Siemens TIA Portal projects. The goal is to determine which AI technology - such as Microsoft Copilot, GPT-based tools, or domain‑specific agents - is best suited for automating Siemens PLC development within the ESF ecosystem.
Expected Deliverables:
· Working prototype AI → PLC code generation workflow
· Comparative analysis of selected AI tools
· Technical PoC documentation
· Final presentation and recommendation for next steps
This internship combines software engineering, industrial automation, and applied AI. You will have significant freedom to design your research approach and experiment with different AI tools.
The team
You will work in a team of senior software developers and automation specialists in the Industrial Automation team at Equans Digital. The team is located in Zaandam, less than 15 minutes away from central Amsterdam by train.
We work according to a light Scrum approach, and are close to our main stakeholders (project and software development engineers). This assures early and direct communication, allowing us to stay focused on customer needs. You will receive guidance from experienced engineers, while maintaining the freedom to shape your research and project direction. Reviewing of each others work is embedded in the process, as are demos, whiteboard sessions, and internal team meetings.