Content
- 1. Logging In
- 2. Navigation Bar
- 3. Time Filter
- 4. Company Overview
- 5. Equipment Detail View
- 6. Reports
- 7. Alarms
- 8. Configuration
1. Logging In
If you are not already logged in, navigating to app.lcm2m.com will present you with a login form.
Figure 1.1 – lcm2m.com Login Form
The login form is based on your email address, and not a username. If you do not have a login for lcm2m.com, please contact your company’s LCM2M account administrator. If you are the company admin and do not have an account yet, please contact support to have an account created.
2. Navigation Bar
Once logged in, the navigation bar is at the top of the page. This bar helps move between levels of your organization, and to access reports and settings.
Figure 2.1 – Navigation Bar
Clicking the company logo will take you back to the top level of the organizational structure, no matter where you are in the navigation tree. This provides a consistent place to return to while using the web interface.
Figure 2.2 – Navigation Bar Logo
2.1 Breadcrumbs
The equipment within the web interface can be organized into a hierarchy that mirrors your organizational structure, with the company is at the top of the hierarchy. The breadcrumb control is located in the navigation bar next to the company logo.
Figure 2.1.1 – Navigation Bar Breadcrumbs
The breadcrumb control shows where you are currently at in the hierarchy, and allows you to click back to a higher level. In the example above, LCM2M is the top-level company, UR10 is a department, and the UR10 item after that is the equipment itself. Clicking on the LCM2M item will take you back to the top-level company overview.
2.2 Reports
A Reports item sits on the right-hand side of the navigation bar.
There are three reports that are available at different times in the web interface.
- Excessive downtime (Always available)
- Summary report (Available above the machine level)
- Raw cycle data (Available at the machine level)
- Reports are covered in detail in section 6.
2.3 Alarms
The alarms button is displayed at the equipment detail level. If any alarms that have been configured for that piece of equipment are active, they will show up when this button is clicked. Section 8.5 explains how to set alarms for equipment.
Figure 2.3.1 – Navigation Bar Alarms Button
2.4 Company Settings
Clicking on the gears icon in the navigation bar will take you to the company settings page. This is separate from your individual user settings. Company settings will effect all users and equipment within an organization.
Figure 2.4.1 – Navigation Bar Company Settings Button
Company settings that are covered in detail in section 8.
2.5 User Options
At the far right of the navigation bar is a dropdown containing user options.
Figure 2.5.1 – Navigation Bar User Options Dropdown
There are two options in the dropdown.
- Settings
- Logout
Figure 2.5.2 – User Options
Clicking on Settings will take you into the personal settings described in section 8.8. Clicking on Logout will log the current user out of the web interface. The user will then have to log back in as described in section 1.
3. Time Filter
The time filter is visible at every level of the company hierarchy and controls the time span for which data is displayed. It allows you to set a span relative to the current time, or to set a time range in the past. These settings determine the data that is displayed in the web interface, such as utilization and cycle data.
Figure 3.1 – Time Filter
The current time filter selection will be highlighted in white. There are two main types of time filters, relative and absolute. A relative time filter is based from the current time. For example, a 1 hour (1h) relative time filter would start at the current time and go back 1 hour into the past. An absolute time filter has a configurable start and end time for any timespan in the past. You need to set a start date/time and end date/time for absolute filters.
All of the filters up to the Custom item are “quick access” filters. The following table explains each of the quick access relative filters and what they mean.
In addition to the quick access filters, there is a Custom dropdown that gives more options.
Figure 3.2 – Time Filter Custom Dropdown
Each of the rows (Hours, Days, Weeks, Months) are similar to the quick access filters such as 3h, 1d, 1w and 3m. Each of these rows holds more options for the relative timespans you can set. By clicking the Absolute button at the top of the Custom dropdown, you can manually set a start and end time.
Figure 3.3 – Time Filter Absolute Settings
By default, the start time on the left of the arrow will be highlighted with a green underline. This is indicating that by clicking a day in the calendar you will be setting the start time of the custom timespan.
Figure 3.4 – Absolute Time Filter Start Time
After clicking on a date in the calendar the highlight will move to the time on the right of the arrow, showing it is selected. This is indicating that by clicking a day in the calendar you will be setting the end date for tIt is he absolute timespan.
Figure 3.5 – Absolute Time Filter Start Time
After clicking the end date the web interface will load data for the selected timespan and all-time filter options will disappear. The Custom button will be replaced by an indicator showing the start and end times selected. By clicking this dropdown and selecting a relative time filter option, you can clear the absolute selection.
4. Company Overview
After logging into app.lcm2m.com, the view you will be presented with is the company overview.
Figure 4.1 – Company Overview
This is the top-level view for the entire organization. Depending on how the company tree is configured, at this level you might see things like departments, facilities and workcells represented by the circular indicators at the bottom. The view is designed to provide quick, high-level insight into how the organization is running as a whole, and how each top level group is doing. From here you can drill down into the areas of interest to analyze how the different parts of your organization are performing.
4.1 Overall Utilization
In the top right-hand corner of the company overview, there is a Current Overall Utilization percentage and status bar, showing the combined score for the entire organization.
Figure 4.1.1 – Current Overall Utilization
The color-coding on this display is the same throughout the web interface.
A Note About Overall Utilization: The overall utilization is calculated based on time scheduled versus time run. The schedule can vary at different levels of the company tree, and utilization can be calculated for just a piece of equipment, or combined for a group that holds the equipment. See section 8.6 for details on setting up the schedule for a company or piece of equipment. For detailed information about how the combined utilization value is calculated, see the infographic here.
4.2 Utilization Tab
The Utilization tab displays a bar chart of how utilization has been trending over time. Using the time filters it may be possible to identify trends based on the day of the week, a certain week each month, or to see if initiatives to maximize machine capacity are having an impact. The slice of time each bar represents depends on what the time filter is set to. The following table shows what increments apply to certain time filters.
4.3 Equipment Tab
The Equipment tab displays a table with general information about each piece of equipment from the level you are at on down the company tree.
The table columns and their meanings are listed below.
There are also two buttons in the table.
- Show chart opens an inline chart directly below the equipment entry in the table. This chart shows trend lines for cycle time and temperature. The time scale on this chart depends on the time filter that is set. Once clicked, the button changes color from blue to red and the text changes to Hide chart.
- Show detail links to the equipment detail view, explained in section 5.
5. Equipment Detail View
The equipment detail view shows the relevant information for a single piece of equipment, which is at the lowest level of the company tree hierarchy.
Figure 5.1 – Equipment Detail View
5. 1 General Equipment Information
In the top left there is information that includes the equipment name, the ID of the LCM2M device on the equipment, and whether or not there are any tags being associated with the data currently being collected.
Figure 5.1.1 – Equipment and Device Information
- Equipment Name
- Status
- Attached LCM2M Device ID
- Connection Status Button
- Active Tag Listing
Clicking on the connection status button shows a thin bar just above the status barcode chart. The bar is green for time periods when the device is connected, and amber if the device has lost connection because of a loss of power or network connection.
Figure 5.1.2 – Connection Status Bar
When the device attached to a piece of equipment is offline, an amber lightning bolt icon will appear to the right side of the device ID as well.
5. 2 Last Cycle Information
The top middle of the view shows information from the last cycle that was recorded for the current piece of equipment. This information includes when the last cycle occurred, what the last cycle time was and the last temperature recorded, assuming there was a thermocouple hooked to the device. The final item in this list is the number of cycles that have occurred within the timespan defined by the time filter.
Figure 5.2.1 – Last Cycle Information
5. 3 Utilization Information
The top right of the interface holds information about the current utilization of the equipment. The information that is displayed here is influenced by the time filter setting.
Figure 5.3.1 – Utilization Information
The current overall utilization is shown on top, and just below that is a breakdown of how that value was calculated. On the left side of the slash is a XX.XXh value representing the number of hours the equipment has run. On the right side is a XX.XXh value (green) representing the number of hours that was scheduled for the equipment. The run hours divided by the scheduled hours times 100 (run / scheduled * 100) yields the utilization value. At the bottom of the area is a bar that graphically represents the utilization percentage.
The color coding for the utilization values and indicator bar follow the conventions outlined in the Overall Utilization section.
5. 4 Barcode Chart
The barcode chart is so named by the way it can resemble a product barcode when looking at longer time spans. The color coding in the barcode chart is consistent with the status colors throughout the web interface. Red means the equipment was down, and green means that it was running. Putting your mouse cursor over a section in the barcode chart will display relevant information such as what the status was, when the status started, when it ended, and how long the duration was.
Figure 5.4.1 – Barcode Chart
5. 5 Utilization Detail Chart
Directly below the barcode chart, is the utilization detail chart. This chart breaks the components of the utilization calculation down into smaller time spans, and shows how many cycles occurred in each span.
Figure 5.5.1 – Utilization Detail Chart
The orange bars represent the amount of time the equipment actually ran during the given time span, one bar per span. The green line represents the time that the piece of equipment was scheduled to run. During breaks and on days when production is shut down, this line should drop down to 0. See section 8.6 for more detail on configuring schedules. The purple line represents how many cycles occurred in each time span. Hovering over one of the bars with your mouse cursor will give you a popup specifying the data for that span.
5. 6 Cycle Data Charts
At the bottom of the equipment detail view are cycle data charts. The number of charts in this area varies depending on the number of cycle data tags being collected by a device, but include cycle time and temperature charts at the very least. The data in these charts is influenced by the time filter setting.
Figure 5.6.1 – Cycle Data Charts
Above the charts to the right are averages for the cycle time and thermocouple (temperature) values being recorded on the equipment. If other data tags are being collected for the equipment (i.e. from the analog input), the average for that tag will be shown here as well.
Above the charts and to the left are scale settings for the y axis on each chart, as well as a checkbox to combine the charts. Whether or not to combine the charts is usually a matter of personal preference, but may make it easier to correlate data trends. The data itself does not change when the charts are combined as it does with the time filters, just the y-axis scale (discussed next).
There are several settings for the y-axis scaling, including None for no scaling, and the default is 3. The scaling is based on the standard deviation. The standard deviation and the mean are calculated based on all of the data in the chart, and then the scaling is set at the mean +/- scaling * standard deviation. This creates a window around the mean, and no data points outside that window will be displayed. Note that this setting only changes the y-axis chart scaling, and not the averages above the charts.
6. Reports
Reports are designed to provide actionable data for production meetings, initiatives and analysis. There are three reports available currently, and more may be added in the future.
6.1 Excessive Downtome Report
The Excessive downtime report shows each instance where a piece of equipment was down for longer than expected. These entries include the start and end times when the event occurred, and provides a duration for how long the downtime event was.
Figure 6.1.1 – Excessive Downtime Report
In addition, the report allows users to set why the machine was down for that long. The possible reasons are as follows.
- Man (i.e. there was no operator)
- Machine (i.e. the equipment was in need of repair)
- Method (i.e. an operator cannot keep a piece of equipment running due to not having the proper tools)
- Material (i.e. no material was available to run the part)
- Schedule (i.e. the equipment was not scheduled to run, or was scheduled incorrectly)
- Prev. Maintenance (preventative maintenance was being done on the equipment)
- Once a reason is set in the dropdown box, the downtime entry in the report will disappear.
Figure 6.1.2 – Excessive Downtime Report Reason Selection Dropdown
Downtime entries that have already had a reason assigned can be shown again by checking the Show previously marked checkbox. If no additional entries appear after setting the checkbox, it may be that there have not been any entries that have had their reason set yet based on the time filter you have set (section 3).
Figure 6.1.3 – Excessive Downtime Report Show Previously Marked Checkbox
As downtime reasons are set in the report, the bar chart at the top of the report will begin to populate. There are two bars for each reason. The purple, left-most bar is the number of occurrences of the reason. The green, right-most bar is the number of total hours the equipment was down for that reason. This chart can be hidden at any time by un-checking the Show chart checkbox.
Figure 6.1.3 – Excessive Downtime Report Show Previously Marked Checkbox
As downtime reasons are set in the report, the bar chart at the top of the report will begin to populate. There are two bars for each reason. The purple, left-most bar is the number of occurrences of the reason. The green, right-most bar is the number of total hours the equipment was down for that reason. This chart can be hidden at any time by un-checking the Show chart checkbox.
Section 8.2 explains how to define the excessive downtime threshold on a piece of equipment so that this report is meaningful for your organization.
6.2 Summary Report
The Summary Report option is only available above the equipment level in the company tree hierarchy, and reports on data from the current level down to the bottom of the company tree. The sections of the Summary Report are outlined below. Utilization color coding follows the pattern outlined in the Overall Utilization section.
Figure 6.2.1 – Summary Report
- Takes the utilization metrics from all equipment below the current level in the company tree, and combines them into one value. Below the overall percentage value is an indicator showing the hours run versus the hours scheduled.
- Shows a breakdown of each group (department, facility, etc) directly below the current level in the company tree. This makes it easy to determine how departments and facilities are performing compared to each other.
- Equipment Exceptions: When the No recent cycles(>=2d) tab is selected, devices on equipment that have not reported in for at least the last 2 days are listed. Reasons for this can vary. Equipment can be powered down for maintenance, thus shutting off power to a device, or a device might have a network connection issue. This list can be used to help a maintenance department triage devices that need attention. When the Underutilized(<80%) tab is selected, pieces of equipment that are showing less than 80% utilization are listed.
- Excessive Downtimes: Shows the number of hours associated with excessive downtime in each department/facility below the current level in the company hierarchy. The threshold defining what constitutes excessive downtime can be set in the equipment management section of this guide. This information can be used to determine which facilities, departments, workcells, etc to focus on, but is very dependent on the type of equipment in a facility. For instance, a CNC machine shop will typically have a smaller number of excessive downtimes than a molding operation that involves several manual steps by an operator. Therefore, groups of equipment cannot always be directly compared. Hovering your mouse cursor over each bar in this chart will show a tooltip with the hour values.
- Downtime Reasons: Pie chart showing the distribution of reasons why equipment was down. This chart depends on information provided by users in the Excessive Downtime report. A legend is provided on the right, showing the reasons that users are allowed to enter. Hovering your mouse cursor over each slice in the pie chart will display the number of times that a reason was selected as being the cause of the excessive downtime.
6.3 Raw Cycle Data
The raw cycle data report is only available when at the equipment (lowest) level in the company hierarchy.
Figure 6.3.1 – Raw Cycle Data Report
The table includes individual cycle information including when the cycle occurred, what the cycle time was, what the temperature (measured via thermocouple) was and what tags (if any) are associated with the cycle. The data in this table is set based on the time filters. There is also an Export button that allows the data from the table to be downloaded for further analysis in applications such as Excel and Minitab. When the Export button is clicked, two new buttons will appear. The first is JSON, and the second is CSV. If in doubt, choose CSV because it can be directly used with Excel or Minitab. Clicking the CSV or JSON buttons will present you with a save-as or open dialog in your web browser. The file name of the downloaded file is encoded with the start and end timestamps of the data.
7. Alarms
Three different types of alarms are available for use:
- Threshold Violation
- Excessive Downtime
- Offline Detection
You can choose to be alerted either by email or by text. If choosing text notification, you must enter your mobile phone number under personal settings as outlined in the Managing Personal Settings section. Information on creating and configuring alarms is available in the Managing Alarms section, and a description of each alarm type is listed below.
7.1 Threshold Violation
Threshold alarms can be set for the temperature being monitored from any Caddis device through the thermocouple port. Both low and high threshold alarms are available. To set a window for acceptable temperatures, low threshold and high threshold alarms can be set separately. See the Creating a Temperature Alarm section for an example.
7.2 Excessive Downtime
When setting up equipment (see the Building the Company Tree section), an Excessive downtime threshold can be set in seconds. Once this is set, downtimes that are longer than the threshold amount are reported in the Excessive Downtime Report, but can also trigger alarms. Using these alarms can help address equipment capacity issues by allowing organizations to be proactive in investigating excessive downtime occurrences as they happen, rather than after the fact. See the Creating an Excessive Downtime Alarm section for details on setting excessive downtime alarms.
7.3 Offline Detection
LCM2M devices usually go offline for one of two reasons: power failure and network issues. Power failure can result from things like tripped circuit breakers, but can also be the result of power being disconnected from a piece of equipment during planned maintenance. Network issues take many forms including, but not limited to, the following.
- Poor wireless network signal
- Cut or damaged Ethernet cable
- Firewall blocking access to the Internet
- Switches or routers that are offline
For a list of the firewall ports that must be open for LCM2M devices to function properly, see our guide on getting a device online
If LCM2M devices are not online, they cannot report the data they are collecting to the LCM2M servers, which prevents you from viewing the data. Offline detection alarms can be set for equipment so that a user can be alerted whenever there is a connection issue. This ensures that any issues in your monitoring infrastructure can be dealt with quickly. See the Creating an Offline Detection Alarm section for details on setting offline detection alarms.
8. Configuration
When the gears icon in the navigation bar is clicked, it takes you to the configuration section of the web interface.
Figure 8.1 – Company Settings Overview
The Organization pane on the left is a navigation sidebar used to cycle through company-wide settings and views, including the following.
- Company Tree
- Devices
- Manage Tags
- Alarms
- Members
- Add a Team Member (Organization superuser only)
The center and right-hand panes are context sensitive, and will change based on the selection in the Organization pane. Clicking on the Company Tree item displays an interactive, hierarchal company tree in the center pane.
Figure 8.2- Company Tree
Clicking on any item in the company tree will populate the right pane with information and settings for that item. By default, the right pane will display information about the company, since it is the top level entity in the organization. At the top is general information like company address, phone number, and primary contact email address.
Directly below the general company information are two buttons that will be common for all Company Tree items except at the equipment level.
Figure 8.3 – Add Child and Equipment Buttons
The Add child button allows the addition of groupings like departments and workcells into the company tree. These child items can be nested, and so if you click Add child at the company level, it will add a child directly below the company. If you click on the new child that is created in the tree and then click the Add child button again, a child is nested within the first child you created, and so on.
Clicking the Add equipment button adds an equipment entry under the currently selected child in the company tree.
Using both the Add child and Add equipment buttons together, a representation of your company’s organizational structure can be reproduced in the company tree. The company tree reflects the way that departments and equipment are navigated in the rest of the web interface. See the section on Building the Company Tree for more details.
The next setting at the company level is the Timezone. This settings effects scheduling and utilization numbers and should be set appropriately.
Figure 8.4 – Company Timezone Setting
The last company setting in the right-hand pane is the schedule. At the company level, this sets the global schedule that all departments and equipment will inherit. Schedules can be edited at each level of the company hierarchy, allowing departments and equipment to have individual schedules. See the Managing Schedules section for more details.
Figure 8.5 – Company Global Schedule Setting
8.1 Building the Company Tree
In most cases, the company tree should be built so that it reflects your organization’s structure. If your organization has multiple facilities spread across the country, you might put each facility as a separate group directly under the top level company entry. After that departments, groups and workcells might be added below each facility. Units that go under a company in the tree are referred to as a “child” of the company. An organization with a single facility might start at the department level, and then add things like groups and workcells below those departments. It is completely up to you how you want to structure the company tree, and it is best to give the layout some thought before starting this process.
To begin building the company tree, click on the company name, which should be the top (and initially the only) item in the tree.
Figure 8.1.1 – Company Entry By Itself In Company Tree
Clicking on the company should ensure that the company’s information is displayed in the right-hand sidebar. In the sidebar, click on the Add child button to add the first facility, department, group, workcell, etc.
Figure 8.1.2 – Add child Button
This will bring up a dialog where you can enter the Child name of the group you want to add to the company. Click the Save changes button once the name has been entered.
Figure 8.1.3 – Add child Dialog
The child that you created should now be visible in the company tree.
Figure 8.1.4 – New child Entry in Company Tree
Additional direct children of the company entry can be added by making sure the company is selected, and then clicking the Add child button again. To add a sub-child to the new child entry, click on that entry to select it, which should populate the right sidebar with information related to that child.
Figure 8.1.5 – New Child Entry Selected in Company Tree
Figure 8.1.6 – New Child Entry Information In SideBar
You can now click the Add child button and add a sub-child. Children can be nested this way down to any level that reflects your organization’s structure.
Once you are at a level where it is appropriate to start adding equipment, you can click the Add equipment button in the sidebar.
Figure 8.1.7 – Add equipment Button
This displays the Add new equipment dialog. In this dialog you can enter the Equipment name and click the Save changes button.
Figure 8.1.8 – Add new equipment Dialog
The equipment should now show up under the appropriate child in the company tree.
Figure 8.1.9 – New Equipment Entry in Company Tree
There is another tab on the Add new equipment dialog called Existing equipment, and that exists to move equipment from on part of an organization to another. If you needed to move a piece of equipment between two facilities or departments, this is what you would use. The Parent field will always be filled in with the child you have selected in the company tree when you open the Add new equipment dialog. You then select the equipment that you want to move into this child using the Equipment dropdown, and click the Save changes button.
Figure 8.1.10 – Add Existing Equipment Dialog Tab
8.2 Managing Equipment
Settings for an individual piece of equipment can be accessed by clicking on the equipment entry in the company tree. Once the equipment has been selected, the equipment settings will populate in the right-hand sidebar.
Figure 8.2.1 – Equipment Settings
Here is a list of each setting along with a short description.
- Name: Enter a name for the equipment that would be recognized by employees.
- Category: What type of equipment this is, whether that is a CNC machine, furnace, etc. If you do not see your equipment type listed, feel free to contact support to have it added.
- Manufacturer: The name of the company that built the equipment. If you do not see your equipment’s manufacturer listed, feel free to contact support to have it added.
- Model: The model designation assigned by the manufacturer. If the model of your equipment does not appear in the list, you can type it in as you would with any other text field. Please try to match the manufacturer’s format for the model designation as closely as possible.
- Maximum allowed cycle time (seconds): The length of cycle time that will never be exceeded for this equipment. Default is 300 seconds (5 minutes).
Excessive downtime threshold (seconds): The length of time before an excessive downtime entry is logged in the excessive downtime report. Defaults to 2100 seconds (35 minutes). - Remove: Button that removes the equipment from the company tree, effectively deleting it. You will be presented with a dialog box confirming that you want to remove the equipment. This operation is permanent, so be careful.
- Add device: Button that allows an LCM2M device to be attached to this piece of equipment. This will bring up the device dialog, which is discussed in the next section.
- Devices: Lists the devices attached to this equipment. If one hasn’t been attached yet, this section will only have one entry, “No attached devices”.
- Save: Be sure to click this button after changes have been made to the equipment settings. Otherwise changes will not be permanent.
8.2.1 Assigning A New Device to Equipment
The Add device dialog allows users to attach devices to equipment. This is required to begin collecting data on a piece of equipment. Please be sure to match the device to the equipment it is actually installed on.
Figure 8.2.2 – Add device Dialog
An explanation of each field in the dialog is below.
- Parent: This field cannot be changed because it is determined by the equipment that was selected when the Add device button was clicked.
- Device UUID: A device ID matching the device that was installed on the piece of equipment. The full ID can be copied from the Unassigned devices list on the Devices configuration page. See the Managing Devices section for more details.
- Input Type: This is the type of signal the LCM2M device is setting from the equipment. There are two main types of input signals, pulsed and sustained. A pulsed signal is on momentarily one or more times per cycle, and a sustained signal stays on throughout the entire cycle and goes off when the cycle is complete. There is a chart below showing the different input types and what they mean.
- Device Type: Is reserved for later use, and only has one option at this time.
- Primary: It is not a standard configuration, but a piece of equipment can have multiple LCM2M devices on it. This check box allows you to set whether this device is the primary or secondary device. The default is Primary.
- Active: If a device is not currently being used, this box can be unchecked. Cycle data will not be collected for inactive devices. The default is Active.
- Save changes: This button must be clicked before device configuration changes are made permanent.
- Cancel: This button prevents the current set of changes form being made permanent, and closes the dialog.
8.2.2 Assigning An Existing Device to Equipment
There is a Existing Device (second) tab on the Add device dialog for adding existing devices to a piece of equipment.
An explanation of each field is below:
- Parent: This field cannot be changed because it is determined by the equipment that was selected when the Add device button was clicked.
- Device: A dropdown list showing all the devices in the company that can be assigned to this equipment. If the dialog shows No existing devices to reassign, then at least once device will need to be added to the company.
- Make primary: This checkbox sets whether this device is the primary device if multiple devices are assigned to a single piece of equipment. Checking this box will make any existing primary devices on the equipment non-primary. The primary device is the one that determines when a cycle happens for the piece of equipment.
- Make active: This checkbox sets whether the device being attached to the equipment will be active or not. If the device is not active, it will not record cycle data.
- Save changes: This button must be clicked before device configuration changes are made permanent.
- Cancel: This button prevents the current set of changes form being made permanent, and closes the dialog.
8.3 Managing Devices
Devices can be viewed and configured by clicking on Devices in the left-hand sidebar of the configuration view. There are two tables in the device management view. The first is labeled Devices, and the second is labeled Unassigned Devices.
8.3.1 Devices Table
The Devices table shows all active devices within your organization by default. There is a Show inactive devices checkbox which will also include devices that have had their Active checkboxes unchecked, meaning that that will not record cycle data.
Figure 8.3.1.1 – Show inactive devices Checkbox
The Devices table columns and their meanings are listed below.
Figure 8.3.1.2 – Devices Table
- UUID: The ID of the device, which is assigned by LCM2M and is used to associate a device to a piece of equipment.
- Attached to: The piece of equipment that the device is assigned to. If the device is not assigned to any equipment, it will be in the Unassigned devices table.
- Device type: Reserved for later use. Will always display Caddis for now.
- Input setup: How the device is configured to respond to the electrical inputs from the machine (outputs from the machine’s perspective). There is a table in the section on adding a new device to equipment that explains what each of the input type designations mean.
- Latest IP: Shows the latest known IP (network) address of the device. This address can be helpful when troubleshooting network connection issues.
- Date added: The date the device was entered into the system. This date is never updated, and always reflects the first time the device was set up.
- Primary: Whether the device is the primary data collection device or not. The primary device determines when a cycle happens, and a secondary device is simply for extra data collection (temperatures, analog inputs, etc).
- Edit: There is an Edit button for each row in the table which opens the Edit device dialog. This dialog allows a user to change the Input type, Device type, and whether the device is Primary and Active (collecting data or not)
8.3.2 Unassigned Devices Table
The Unassigned devices table displays just the device IDs (UUID) of any devices which have been entered for your company, but have not been assigned to equipment. The UUID text can be copied directly out of this table, and used to add the device to a piece of equipment.
8.4 Managing Tags
Tags allow you to attach extra information to cycles. That information can be things like part numbers and workorder numbers. Tracking information using tags allows you to correlate data from production items across runs. This can be helpful in discovering trends relevant to an item, even when it has been a long time since you ran it. Tags are exported with raw cycle data. Instructions on how to export that data can be found in the Raw Cycle Data reports section.
To begin defining tags, first click the New tag button on the Manage Tags view.
Figure 8.4.1 – New tag Button
This will open the New tag dialog, which will allow you to set the information below.
Figure 8.4.2 – New Tag Dialog
- Group: Tags can be grouped by subject, such as part numbers, workorder numbers, a customer name, etc. This provides a level of organization to the tag system. This control is a dropdown list, but also allows input. If there are tags available for your company, they will be displayed in the dropdown. If the tag you wish to use is not available, you can enter it directly in the text box at the top of the dropdown list, and then click the light blue Create group bar that appears. The Group field can be left blank as well if you do not want to group the new tag.
- Tag name: Give the tag a descriptive name that will be intuitive to other users within your company. For example, if entering a tag for a part number, try to follow the standard format for that part number as closely as possible.
Figure 8.4.3 – Create group Clickable Bar
Once groups and tags have been defined, they will be displayed in the Manage Tags table.
Figure 8.4.4 – Manage Tags Table With Newly Created Groups and Tags
The names of the groups appear in the top left of each table section, and if there are tags without a group, that table section will be tagged with the text No group. The date each tag was created is also displayed. In the Modify column, there is a red Deactivate link. When this is clicked, the text changes to a green Activate link, and the tag moves down to an Inactive Tags table section. If that tag was the last one in a group, that group’s table section will disappear, but the group information is retained in the Inactive Tags section.
Figure 8.4.5 – Inactive Tags Table Section
By clicking the Activate link, the tag will be restored to its original group. If the tag is the only one in a group, the group will be restored as well. Inactive tags are not available to be attached to cycle data.
After tags have been defined, they can be attached to cycles at the equipment level in the main web interface by clicking the tags icon below the device ID.
Figure 8.4.6 – Tags Icon
Clicking the tags icon opens the Edit active cycle tags dialog.
Figure 8.4.7 – Edit active cycle tags Dialog
This dialog allows you to set which tag is active for the cycle data currently being collected. The selection is made through the Tags dropdown list. The # of effective cycles field allows you to set a number of cycles the tag will be active for. If you know the number of cycles for a given production run, this can be a good way to ensure that the tag does not stay active longer than it should. Make sure to click the Save changes button to save your selection.
Once an active tag has been set, it will be displayed next to the tags icon. If no tags are selected for the cycle data currently being collected, the text will read No active tags – click to set. This is what is shown in Figure 8.4.6.
8.5 Managing Alarms
Alarms can be configured to alert users when certain events happen. Examples of events are:
- A piece of equipment has been down for too long (excessive downtime)
- An LCM2M device has gone offline (lost network connection or power)
- A cycle data value has gone above or below a threshold
Alarms can be configured by clicking the Alarms item in the left-hand sidebar of the configuration view. The Alarms view is then displayed, which holds any alarms that have already been defined, as well as a button to create new alarms.
Figure 8.5.1 – Alarms View
- New alarm: Launches a dialog to create a new alarm. Be sure to check existing alarms first to see if one has already been created that will fit your needs. Creating and alarm is covered in the next section.
- Equipment: Table column showing which piece of equipment the alarm is set for.
- Alarm type: What type of alarm is set. Examples include Excessive downtime, Offline detection and Temperature.
- Arguments: Holds attributes of the alarm such as the threshold value, the units the threshold are in, and whether or not the alarm is active outside of scheduled production time.
- # of subscribers: After an alarm is created, it can be subscribed to by other users within your company. This field shows how many users are subscribed, but not who they are or whether they are subscribed via email or text.
- My subscriptions: Shows an envelope icon if you are subscribed to an alarm via email, and a mobile phone icon if subscribed via text. Nothing will be displayed if you are not subscribed to the alarm, and you can be subscribed via both email and text at the same time.
- Actions: When there are alarms in the table, this column will hold buttons to Subscribe and Unsubscribe.
There are also Mine and History tabs in the Alarms view that allow viewing just your alarms, or what alarms have been created and removed over time. When any configured alarms are triggered, they will appear in the navigation bar under the alarms dropdown.
8.5.1 Creating an Alarm
Clicking the New tag button opens the Add alarm dialog. A description of each of the settings is below.
Figure 8.5.1.1 – Add alarm Dialog
- Equipment: Selects the piece of equipment that this alarm will be active for. The equipment has to already exist in the system.
- Alarm Type: What type of alarm is set. Examples include Excessive downtime, Offline detection and Temperature.
- Subscribe?: How you want to receive notifications about the alarm. The boxes can be checked for email, text or both. If there is a red information icon next to the text checkbox, it means that a textable mobile number needs to be set for your account. See the section on managing personal settings for instructions on how to do that.
When an alarm type is selected, the dialog will expand to cover other options. Examples of the additional settings used to create 3 types of alarms are outlined in the following sections.
8.5.2 Creating an Excessive Downtown Alarm
An excessive downtime alarm will warn a user if a piece of equipment has shown down for more than the specified threshold. This is not the same as the Excessive downtime threshold set in the equipment configuration. There are three settings added when you select Excessive downtime as the Alarm type.
Figure 8.5.2.1 – Adding an Excessive Downtime Alarm
- Threshold: The amount of time before a piece of equipment can show down before the alarm is triggered. What you set this value at is influenced by the Threshold unit setting just below it.
- Threshold unit: Whether the Threshold you set is interpreted as Seconds, Minutes or Hours.
- Restrict to schedule?: Determines if alarm notifications are only sent during scheduled production time. If checked, only alarms triggered during scheduled production time will be sent.
8.5.3 Creating an Offline Detection Alarm
An offline detection alarm will alert a user if the device attached to a piece of equipment has lost power or network connection. This type of alarm can be very important, especially on equipment where it is critical to ensure that data is being collected consistently. There are two settings added when you select Offline detection as the Alarm type.
Figure 8.5.3.1 – Adding an Offline Detection Alarm
- Threshold: The amount of time a device can be offline before the alarm is triggered. What you set this value at is influenced by the Threshold unit setting just below it.
- Threshold unit: Whether the Threshold you set is interpreted as Seconds, Minutes or Hours.
8.5.4 Creating a Temperature Alarm
A temperature alarm can be triggered either when a temperature goes above or below a threshold. To set a window of acceptable temperatures, two separate alarms need to be configured, one above the window and one below. There are two settings added when you select Temperature as the Alarm type.
Figure 8.5.4.1 – Adding a Temperature Alarm
- Operator: The options are Greater than and Less than. These are the same as the common mathematical operators and correspond to when a value goes above and below the threshold.
- Value: The threshold value that is to be used with the operator. If the Greater than operator is set, and this field is set to 400, it establishes that the alarm will be triggered if the value goes above 400 degrees fahrenheit.
8.6 Managing Schedules
Schedules are very important for ensuring accurate utilization calculations. Utilization is calculated based on the number of hours that a piece of equipment actually runs versus the number of hours that it was supposed to run. The schedule determines that second part. A schedule can be inherited at lower levels of the company tree, meaning that you can set a master schedule at the company level, and then override it as needed at the department or equipment level. The schedule is influenced by the timezone setting in the company configuration. That must be set properly before the schedule is configured.
8.6.1 Global Company Schedule
To set the global schedule for your company, first select your company in the company tree in the configuration view. When the company is properly selected, its item in the company tree will be underlined.
Figure 8.6.1.1 – Company Tree With Company Selected
Selecting the company will populate the right-hand sidebar with information and settings for the company, with a Schedule section at the bottom.
Figure 8.6.1.2 – Schedule Section in Sidebar
Clicking on the Edit button brings up the Edit schedule dialog.
Figure 8.6.1.2 – Schedule Section in Sidebar
Clicking on the Edit button brings up the Edit schedule dialog.
Figure 8.6.1.4 – Delete Day Schedule Trashcan Icon
The schedule for a day can always be added back by clicking the plus icon next to the day.
Figure 8.6.1.5 – Add Day Schedule Icon
Once the schedule has been cleared of off-days, begin defining the rest of the schedule by starting at the first day of the week. Each day will start with a single horizontal bar control next to it, which is based on a 24 hour clock. There are open control point circles on each end of the bar. You can drag these to change the time range.
Figure 8.6.1.6 – Control Point on Schedule Bar
Starting at the beginning of the schedule for the work day, drag the control circle on the left (schedule start) to the start of the day. The control circle moves in 5 minute increments, and displays the time above in a tooltip. There are 3 other points along the schedule bar for reference, and those are at 6:00 am, 12:00 pm, and 6:00 pm (18:00). Clicking on any of these points will move the start circle control (the left-most one) to that time. Once the start of the schedule has been set, you can drag the right control (schedule end) to the left to the end time. With the right control you will want to target the beginning of the first break of the day, whether that is a small break or lunch. You can add other segments to the schedule as needed later.
NOTE:This procedure assumes that equipment does not run during operator breaks. If equipment runs unattended in your situation, breaks may not be relevant. In that case just set one schedule segment for the start and end times for the day.
Once a schedule segment has been created for the first part of the day up to the first break, the plus button can be clicked to add the next segment.
Figure 8.6.1.7 – Add Schedule Segment Button
After clicking the button, a new schedule segment bar will be added below the original one. The left (start) circle will be set automatically to the end of the last schedule segment, and the right (end) circle will be set to the end of the day.
Figure 8.6.1.9 – Finished Schedule Example
8.6.2 Company Children Schedule (Departments and Equipment)
The process for setting up the schedule for a department or piece of equipment is the same as the one for the company schedule. However, a child will inherit its schedule from its parent further up the company tree. For example, if you have the hierarchy Company -> Department -> Equipment and the department’s schedule has not been modified, the equipment will inherit the company’s global schedule. If the department’s schedule has been modified, the equipment will inherit that. When you click on a child unit in the configuration view’s company tree, the Schedule section will have a note if the schedule is being inherited.
Figure 8.6.2.1 – Inherited Schedule Note
The inherited schedule can then be edited and customized if a facility, department or specific equipment runs on a different schedule.
8.7 Managing Team Members
Members can be viewed and, if you are an superuser, added by clicking on the Members button in the configuration view.
Figure 8.7.1 – Manage Members Button
This will open the Manage Team Members table in the center pane of the configuration view.
If you are a Superuser, you will see two additional controls. There will be a Add a Team Member button under Members in the left side bar, and an New Team Member button above the Manage Team Members table.
Figure 8.7.2 – Add a Team Member Button
Figure 8.7.3 – New team member Button
Clicking either of these buttons will open the Add a new team member form, where a user’s information can be entered.
Figure 8.7.4 – Add a new team member Form
Once the user’s information has been added, the Submit button can be clicked to save the user. A user should be able to log in immediately after their information has been submitted.
8.8 Managing Personal Settings
Personal Settings can be accessed via the user menu at the top right of the web interface.
Figure 8.8.1 – Settings Button to Access Personal Settings
Clicking the Settings item opens the Edit Personal Settings view. The fields in the view are explained below.
Figure 8.8.2 – User Settings Form
- Weekly report enabled: LCM2M sends out a weekly summary report for your organization, allowing you to see how things went during the week. If you do not wish to receive these emails, you can un-check this box.
- Weekly report subject: This dropdown is only visible when Weekly report enabled is checked. It allows you to select whether you want to get a weekly report for the company, or one of its child units. For example, supervisors of departments may only want to get the summary email for their department, and not the other departments within the company.
- Textable phone #: In order to receive text notifications for alarms, this field must be filled in, and the phone number provided must be able to receive texts.
- Submit: Click this button after all changes have been made to make them permanent.