Define Rules to Trigger Alerts

Use alerts to trigger other rules or to trigger events in other business applications.

Rules can use conditions based on sensor attribute values, metric values, anomaly conditions, trend values, or prediction values.

1. Click Menu and then click Design Center.
2. Select Organization from the Design Center menu.
3. Click Rules.
4. Click Create New Rule .
5. Enter a name to identify this rule.
6. From the Apply To list, select one of the following options:

   • Select Specific Machines, and then click the field that appears next to it to select a machine.

   • Select All Machines Within Type, and then click the field that appears next to it to select a machine type.

     If you select a machine type, the rule applies to all machines of the selected machine type.

     Optionally select Use Global Metrics to use a previously defined global metric for the rule condition. Global metrics are calculated for a machine type as a whole, as opposed to metrics that are calculated per machine.

   • Select Specific Factories, and then click the field that appears next to it to select a factory.

   • Select All Machines if you wish to use an aggregate metric defined for all machines as your rule condition.

     For example, if you have defined an aggregate machine metric to calculate the current average production quantity, you can define a rule to trigger an alert if this number falls below a threshold value.

   • Select All Factories if you wish to use an aggregate metric defined for all factories as the rule condition.

     For example, if you have defined an aggregate factory metric to calculate the maximum number of machines that are down currently, you can define a rule to trigger an alert if this number exceeds a threshold value.

   • Select All Work Orders if you wish to use work-order metrics as your rule conditions.

     For example, if you have defined a work order metric to calculate the hourly reject percentage for a product, you can define a rule to trigger an alert if the reject percentage exceeds a threshold value.

7. In the Condition area select an attribute, a condition, and a value.
   You can apply multiple conditions to the same rule.
   You can also use anomaly-based conditions. So, for example, you can configure a condition to trigger the rule if an anomaly occurred in the last one hour.
   You can also use prediction value conditions. So, for example, you can configure a condition to trigger the rule if the predicted value for a machine attribute exceeds a threshold value.
   You can also use trend-based conditions. So, for example, you can configure a condition to trigger the rule if a trend occurred in the last one hour. You can also selectively select the Nelson rules in the trend that will trigger the rule.
8. In the Fulfillment section, from Fulfill When select All Conditions Apply to trigger the rule if all conditions are true, or Any Conditions Apply to trigger the rule if any of the conditions is true.
9. From Generate, select Alert
10. In the Alert Details section, enter a summary that describes this rule.
11. From the Severity list select a severity level for this alert.
12. Use the up and down arrows in the Suppression field to specify the number of minutes to wait before triggering this alert again after the incident is resolved.
13. (Optional) Under Notification Subscription, add one or more subscriber groups to receive notifications when alerts are triggered by the rule.

    See Use SMS, Email, and HTTP Notifications for more information on configuring notifications.

14. Optionally specify a weekly or monthly schedule during which the rule is in force.
    A rule is active at all times, by default. You can change this behavior to choose a custom schedule for the rule.
    1. Under Rule Schedule, select Custom.
    2. Select Repeat Weekly to create a weekly schedule. Alternatively, select Repeat Monthly to create a monthly schedule.
    3. Click or drag inside the rows to select a data window.
       You can click an incorrectly selected cell to deselect it. Alternatively, click Clear to start afresh.
    The following example shows a weekly schedule for a rule that it is active from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays.
    

    

    
    
15. Click Save.

You can disable or enable existing rules from the Rules page.

The Rules page shows you how many incidents were generated since you defined the rule.