Entering Downtime Reasons

About 12 min read

The reason for a machine stop is entered by clicking the stop in the Downtime timeline widget on a page, or from the list of the Downtime reason entry widget on operator panels. Entered reasons appear in the timeline as a colored strip below the stop, and the Downtime reason Pareto widget uses them to show how the stop time is distributed over the reasons.

To enter reasons you need:

• A license that includes downtime reasons (Standard or Professional package).
• Downtime reasons turned on in the log definition of the machine.
• A timeline with the Downtime reasons setting turned on, or a Downtime reason entry widget, on the page.
• The Operate, ReportManagement or Editor role, or a sign-in with the SystemAdmin account, and rights for the process group of the machine.

For the setup and the roles, see Downtime Reasons.

Reasons in the timeline

In a timeline with the Downtime reasons setting on, entered reasons are drawn below the Stopped segments in the color of their category (Planned, Breakdown, Material, Quality, Other). Hovering over the strip shows Reason, Category, the Comment if there is one and the user who entered the reason (Entered by).

If the user can enter reasons for at least one machine, the text Click a stop to enter its reason. is shown below the timeline. Users who may only see reasons (for example Monitor) see the strip but cannot click a stop.

Entering a reason

1. Click a Stopped segment in the timeline or the reason strip below it. The Downtime reason: <machine> window opens.
2. The top of the window shows the start and end of the stop (Stop); below it, the Entered reasons for this stop are listed.
3. In the New reason section, From and To are filled with the bounds of the stop. If you are entering the reason for only part of the stop, narrow the interval; it must stay within the stop and last at most 31 days.
4. Select the reason in the Reason list. The list shows the reasons available in the task center of the machine.
5. If the selected reason requires a comment (reasons in the Other category always do), fill in Comment (required); for other reasons the Comment is optional. A comment has at most 500 characters.
6. Click Save. The entry is added to the strip and the list immediately.

A stop can have more than one reason: select separate intervals for different parts of the stop. The intervals of two active reasons of the same machine cannot overlap; they may touch end to end.

Overlapping reason: If the selected interval overlaps an existing reason, the window shows the notice The interval overlaps {count} existing classification(s). You can replace them with this reason. Replace and save revokes the overlapping reasons and saves the new one. Replacing a reason entered by someone else needs the right to revoke it (see Revoking).

Ongoing stop: A reason can also be entered for a stop that has not ended yet; the interval ends at the current time. If the stop goes on, enter a new reason for the later part (with one tap on the operator panel).

The window refuses the entry in these cases:

• There is no machine stop in the selected interval: The selected interval contains no machine stop.
• The selected reason is no longer available in the task center of the machine: This reason is not available for this machine's task center.
• Downtime reasons were turned off for the machine: Downtime reasons are turned off for this machine.
• The interval is locked (see Lock and reopening).

The part of the interval that falls on running or unknown state is stored but is never counted as stop time.

Operator panel

On touch operator panels, reasons are entered with the Downtime reason entry widget. The widget lists the stops of the selected machines that have no reason yet as large rows, so nobody has to tap a thin bar in a chart. For the widget settings, see Downtime reason entry.

The Unclassified stops list:

• Ongoing stops come first (Ongoing, ending now), then the ended stops from newest to oldest. Each row shows the machine, the start and end time and the duration.
• For a stop that already has a reason for part of it, only the rest is listed, with the label Partly classified.
• A stop that began before the widget's time window shows Started before the window; the reason entered covers only the part inside the window. Use the timeline for the whole stop.
• When the run/stop segments to read exceed the cap, the older data of the machines is not loaded. If a machine's first shown segment is a stop, that stop reads May have started earlier (older data not loaded); a reason entered there covers only the shown part, and the stop is never hidden as a micro-stop even if it looks short. Reduce the widget's Window (hours) setting.
• Stops shorter than the machine's micro-stop threshold are not listed; the note {count} micro-stop(s) hidden. counts them (the widget's Show micro-stops setting lists them).
• Locked stops are not listed; the note {count} stop(s) locked; a supervisor can reopen them. counts them. A locked interval is reopened from the timeline (see Lock and reopening).
• Stops beyond the Maximum rows setting are counted in the note {count} more unclassified stop(s) not shown.

To enter a reason:

1. Tap the row of the stop. The reasons open below the row as large buttons under their category headings.
2. Tap the button of the reason. If the reason needs a comment, the Comment (required) field appears.
3. Tap Save. The stop leaves the list and the message Saved: <reason> appears. Cancel closes the row.

The reason is entered for the whole interval shown in the row. To enter a reason for only part of a stop, use the timeline.

Ongoing stop: A reason entered for an ongoing stop is saved from the start of the stop up to the current time. While the stop goes on, the new part shows up again in the same row with the label Partly classified and, if the previous reason is still available in the catalog, with the button Continues — same reason: <reason>. One tap saves the same reason from the end of the previous entry up to the current time; once the machine runs again, the same button closes the last part as well. The Pareto counts these entries as one stop with the same reason.

Recent entries: Below the list, the latest reasons entered for these machines are shown (reason, category, machine, interval, who entered it). On an entry of your own that is not locked, Undo and then Yes, undo revokes it; the stop returns to the list and The entry was undone. appears. To revoke a reason entered by someone else, use the timeline (see Revoking).

While the page is visible, the list is read again at the widget's Auto refresh (s) interval (30 s by default) and after every entry; the refresh button reads it at once.

Messages the widget can show:

Message	Meaning
A reason was just entered for this stop; the list was refreshed.	Another user entered a reason for the same stop just before you.
This stop is locked; a supervisor can reopen it.	The stop became locked while you were entering the reason.
You are not allowed to enter downtime reasons; the list is read-only.	The user has none of the roles that may enter reasons (Operate, ReportManagement, Editor, SystemAdmin), or the page was opened with an API key. Without rights for the process group of the machine the list does not load at all (The stops could not be loaded.).
<machine>: downtime reason entry is turned off on this machine.	Downtime reasons is turned off in the log definition of the machine.
<machine>: the tag was not found or has no run/stop log.	The tag chosen in the widget does not exist, or it has no run/stop log.
<machine>: counter sources do not support downtime reasons.	The log definition of the machine uses a counter source.
Too much data in the window; the list may be incomplete.	The window holds more stop segments or reason entries than one request can read; some stops may be missing or shown wrongly. Reduce the widget's Window (hours) setting.
The stop data exceeds the query limit; shorten the widget's time window (hours).	The run/stop data in the window exceeds the archive query limit. For machines that log very often, reduce the widget's Window (hours) setting.
Downtime reason entry is not included in this installation.	The license does not include downtime reasons.

Revoking

A wrong reason is not deleted but revoked:

1. Click the stop to open the window.
2. In the Entered reasons list, click Revoke in the row.
3. Optionally write a Revoke comment (optional) and click Confirm revoke.

The revoked reason gets the status Revoked, disappears from the strip and is not counted in the Pareto; the entry itself and who revoked it are kept.

• The Operate role can revoke only reasons it entered itself.
• ReportManagement, Editor and SystemAdmin can revoke any reason.
• If downtime reasons were turned off for the machine, reasons cannot be revoked; existing reasons stay read-only.

Source changed: If the tag of the log definition was changed after a reason was entered, the reason gets the status Source changed and is no longer counted, because it does not explain the stops of the new tag. The note {count} entries were skipped because the source tag changed. appears below the Pareto.

Lock and reopening

An interval is locked 7 days after the end of the stop: no reason can be entered for a locked interval and locked reasons cannot be revoked. Locked reasons are marked Locked in the list, and the window shows the notice This interval is locked: the lock period after the end of the stop has passed. The lock prevents reported periods from being changed silently later.

The ReportManagement or Editor role or the SystemAdmin account can reopen a locked interval:

1. Click the stop to open the window; if needed, select the interval to reopen with From and To (at most 31 days).
2. Write the reason in the Reason for reopening field (required, at most 500 characters).
3. Click Reopen.

The interval stays open for 48 hours; during this time all users who may enter reasons can enter reasons in this interval and revoke them according to their rights. When the time is over, the interval is locked again. A reopening is also kept with who made it, when and with which reason.

Users without the right to reopen see the message To enter a reason, ask a supervisor to reopen the interval. for a locked interval.

Pareto

The Downtime reason Pareto widget adds up the stop times of the selected machines in the selected range and sorts the bars from largest to smallest. The cumulative percentage line is shown on a second axis. Hovering over a bar shows Duration, Share, Cumulative and Stops. For the widget settings, see Downtime reason Pareto.

Every moment of stop time goes into exactly one bar:

Bar	Which time
Reason (or the category, if Group by is Category)	Stop time covered by an active reason.
Unclassified	Stops without a reason that are longer than the machine's micro-stop threshold or still ongoing.
Micro-stop	Stops without a reason that are shorter than the Micro-stop threshold (s) of the machine (120 s by default).
Other reasons ({count})	The sum of the reasons beyond the Maximum bars number. Unclassified and Micro-stop never go into this bar.

• If a reason was entered for part of a stop, that part goes to the reason and the rest to the Unclassified or Micro-stop bar. This rule also applies to short stops.
• If a stop is split over several reasons, Stops counts it in each bar; the stop counts of the bars cannot be added up.
• The base of the percentages is the total stop time (Total stop); the cumulative value of the last bar is 100%.
• Unknown time (when the state of the machine is not known) is not counted as stop time and is not part of the percentages. If Show unknown is on, it is shown in a separate tile (Unknown).
• Machines with downtime reasons turned off are included in the Pareto too; their stops are counted as Unclassified or Micro-stop, and reasons entered earlier with their reasons.
• Log definitions with a counter source (Cumulative run counter, Cumulative stop counter) cannot be used in the Pareto; the note Counter sources are not supported appears below it.

The total stop time of the Pareto equals the sum of Stop Hour on the Runtime Analysis screen for the same machines and the same range, and the unknown time equals the sum of Unknown Hour (with Hide Incomplete Days off).

To see the Pareto you need rights for the process groups of all machines in the widget. The date range is at most 31 days; with a longer range or when the query limit is exceeded, the message The range or the amount of data exceeds the query limit; narrow the range. is shown and no partial result is displayed.

The Export to Excel button in the Pareto header downloads the Pareto on screen as .xlsx: the bars in display order (duration, stops, share, cumulative share), the totals and the machines, range and grouping. The widget's Show export button setting hides the button.