Notes
Blog
Release notes, war stories from real machines, and sharp takes on TwinCAT, CI/CD, and automation software.
Category
Series
SBOMs for TwinCAT: What the Cyber Resilience Act Actually Requires
The EU Cyber Resilience Act's vulnerability-reporting duty is already live, and the SBOM mandate follows in December 2027. What that means for a TwinCAT machine builder, and how zkmake sbom gets you a CycloneDX SBOM for every build without hand-maintaining a spreadsheet.
CI/CD for TwinCAT: Build, Staging, Deploy
A green TwinCAT build is not a release. Here is the three-job pipeline shape we use for libraries and machine projects: a fast build that publishes snapshots, a staging run that produces a testable release candidate, and a deploy that makes that candidate available to everyone else.
CI/CD for TwinCAT: Dependency Restoration with Twinpack
A TwinCAT CI agent that can compile is useless if the right libraries are not on the machine. Twinpack restore turns library installation into a pipeline step: the versions the project pins, on every agent, every build.
Introducing plcsense: Stop Your Agent Guessing at TwinCAT Code
Coding agents invent TwinCAT APIs because referenced .library archives are invisible to them. plcsense gives agents a correct, read-only view of your solution and every library it pins, over MCP.
CI/CD for TwinCAT: The Real Cost of Scaling Self-Hosted Builds
A serious TwinCAT CI setup needs a pool of Windows build machines, not one agent. Here is what that pool costs to run, why machine locking becomes mandatory once you scale it, and the Jenkins pattern that makes it work.
CI/CD for TwinCAT: Which Branching Strategy Works for Machine Software?
Trunk-based development, GitHub Flow, GitLab Flow, Release Flow: most branching strategies were designed for teams that deploy every commit. Here is what each one means when your software ships on physical machines that run a specific version for years.
CI/CD for TwinCAT: Distributing DevTools On-Prem with Scoop
How we solved authenticated, versioned distribution of TwinCAT CI/CD tools to on-prem Jenkins nodes, and why Chocolatey, NuGet, and plain download scripts didn't make the cut.
Beyond the Vendor Relationship
Zeugwerk does not see itself as a service provider that reacts to requests. It works as a strategic partner that thinks ahead and takes responsibility for ongoing development.
Visibility Is No Accident
Last week the Zeugwerk team had a photoshoot. We chose a familiar setting: where we work every day with our customers. A few thoughts on what every successful project actually needs.
Why AI Disappoints in PLC Development
It is not the AI models that are the problem. It is the environment they are supposed to work in. Here is why most approaches fail and what foundation is actually needed.
CI/CD for TwinCAT: Build Tools Landscape 2026
The 2026 map of TwinCAT build tooling - IDE-only, DIY Jenkins or GitHub Actions, or managed cloud CI - what each path costs in euros, hours, and ongoing care.
Sleeping Soundly at Night
Starting a company raises a lot of open questions. Cycling helped me learn to handle pressure differently. It turned out that PLC development teams face the very same challenge.
Creator 1.8: CLI, MCP Server, and Why We Stopped Relying on the Automation Interface
Creator 1.8 is bringing a full CLI and an MCP server for AI agents, both made possible by a deep architectural shift away from Beckhoff's Automation Interface toward our own parser, semantic model, and codec abstraction.
A Structure Problem, Not a People Problem
A sentence no machine builder likes to say and no customer likes to hear. Yet it happens more often than you would expect. Here is why that is a structure problem, not a people problem.
A Look Behind Our New Website
How we built the new Zeugwerk GmbH website using Hugo, GitHub, automated build and deployment, and without tracking.
Twinpack 1.4.2 Is Out
Twinpack 1.4.2 hardens the TwinCAT package workflow - faster catalogs, monorepos, and fixes that make library supply chains boring again.
Build Performance Boost thx to TwinCAT Update
TwinCAT 3.1.4024.55 slashed our full Zeugwerk CI/CD pipeline by roughly half - here is what we run on every commit and which step got faster.
Durst Group trusts in Zeugwerk
Durst Group standardizes control software across sites with Zeugwerk Framework - faster harmonization and a clearer path from prototype to series machines.
Zeugwerk DevKit 1.2
DevKit 1.2 ships Framework 1.2, richer equipment modelling, API polish, and a straight upgrade path from the 1.0 kit.
Zeugwerk Datawrangler
Snapshot and restore TwinCAT runtime data before updates or commissioning - IDE integration plus a CLI for scripted, repeatable handovers.
Zeugwerk DevKit 1.0
Development Kit 1.0 - Framework 1.0, Creator CE, and a Quickstart that takes you from install to a running structured TwinCAT application.
Interview: Modern Software Engineering in Automation
Ferchau's What's Next magazine on modern software engineering in machine building - why OOP, CI/CD, and tests are no longer optional for automation teams.
Zeugwerk is Beckhoff Solution Provider
Certified Beckhoff Solution Provider - Industry, IoT, and adjacent stacks - with the TwinCAT depth you expect from integrators who still ship their own framework.
Zeugwerk Creator Pro - Compose Equipment
Compose axes, actuators, and I/O in TwinCAT XAE with Creator - guided dialogs that emit framework-ready structure instead of copy-paste boilerplate.