Timeline

Huda Khan

August 01, 2023 17:03
Updated

Introduction

The Timeline shows the operating status over time for a machine and allows users to view and analyze operational data alongside diagnostic machine data with a configurable view. The Timeline also provides quick navigation to managing downtime, production runs, and more. This article explains how to access and use the functions and capabilities of the Timeline for a machine.

Topics covered in this article:

Accessing Timeline
Timeline Information Layout and Functions
Editing the Timeline view
Navigating the Timeline
Managing Machine Downtime

Accessing Timeline

There are several ways to access the Timeline for a machine, including from the following:

Machines Page
Current Shift Dashboard
Machines List

The following sections explain how to access the Timeline for a machine from each of these locations, assuming you are already logged in to MachineMetrics.

From the Machines Page

To navigate to the Timeline for a machine, select Machines in the sidebar navigation menu.

Next, using the machine switcher, select the machine you want to access and click the Timeline tab.

From the Machines List

To access the Timeline from the Machines List page, do the following:
Click the "ellipse" menu (---) associated with the machine you want to view, and select Timeline from the list.

From the Current Shift Dashboard

To access the Timeline from any Current Shift Dashboard view, do the following:
Click on the tile for the machine that you want to view. The machine tile will change to display several icons.
To open the Timeline for the machine, click the Timeline icon in the center of the tile.

Timeline Information Layout and Functions

The following figure shows the information layout of the Timeline application page with the functional areas identified and highlighted.

The Timeline application page is divided into the following sections:

Page View Functions
Timeline Area

The following sections present the information layout and functions provided in each of these application page sections.

Page View Functions

The page view functions include:

Add Metrics: Click this to configure the rows that display on your timeline view. The view can be saved after editing and will be saved to your profile for all machines.
Timeline Date Range: Click this area to open the calendar tool used to set the date and time range for the timeline to display. See Navigating the Timeline.
Panning Controls: Use the arrows on either side of the date picker to navigate forwards and backwards in time. The panning arrows will pan the timeline by 50% of your current view.
Manual Zoom Controls: Zoom in and out by clicking on the zoom in or zoom out buttons.

Timeline Area

The Timeline area of the Timeline application provides the following information and functions by default:

Execution Graph: The top right of the Timeline area shows the percentage that the machine was in-cycle (Utilization) for the selected date and time range. The execution status graph is segmented by color to indicate machine cycle operating status over time using the following color code:
- Active: Machine is in-cycle (up) and processing parts at this time.
- Inactive: Machine is out-of-cycle (down) and not processing parts at this time.
- Disconnected: Machine is not communicating with MachineMetrics at this time.
Downtime Graph: Categorized and un-categorized downtime show in two separate swim-lanes on the timeline for quicker identification. Hovering on a downtime event on the graph will display a tool-tip with action buttons, from here you can categorize, edit, and split downtime events.
Production Graph: This row displays the Production run for the operations that ran during the selected date/time range. Hovering on a Production run will display a tool-tip with additional information and an action button to edit the Production run.
Alarms Graph: This row shows machine faults and other events associated with changes in cycle status at the location in the timeline when they occurred. See Using the Status Timeline to Analyze Downtime.
Parts Graph: This row displays parts as they were produced on the machine, including displaying cycle time and providing an aggregated rollup in the header of the current view range on the timeline. The header rollup includes, total parts, good parts, slow cycles, and median cycle time.
Programs Graph: This row displays the active programs and subprograms on the machine in the current date and time range.

Hover Actions

The Timeline provides quick actions when hovering on a timeline row data item that allow the user to:

View more detailed information about a given event on a row.
Navigate to other pages such as:
- Alarm summary of a selected alarm
- Production run edit form of the selected Production Run
- Categorize, edit, split, and merge downtime events by hovering on any downtime event and selecting the action button in the tool-tip.

Editing the Timeline View

The Timeline allows users to configure their view on a machine to the rows and order of rows they want to view.

Adding and Removing metrics Rows

In the Page View functions area of the Timeline page click the Add Metrics button.
- A modal will appear allowing you to modify the Operational (default) rows and add/remove diagnostic metrics that appear on the current machine by selecting them in the modal.
- After adding or removing metrics you will have the ability to discard or save the view.
Metrics can also be removed from the Timeline view by clicking the “X” on the right side of the row header.

Note: Your saved view is saved to your user profile and will be saved for all machines within your company.

Reorder Rows

To reorder rows click the up or down arrow on the right side of the row header to change the order that the rows appear in. After reordering you will have the ability to discard the view or save the view.

Navigating the Timeline

When you first access the Timeline application page, the Timeline area will display the current day with 24 hours in view.

The date and time range can be adjusted by opening the date range picker and choosing a custom date and range (max 7 days), or by selecting one of the pre-built time ranges.

To pan the timeline forward or backward in time, you can click the arrow icons on either side of the date picker to adjust your time range. The date picker will update to reflect the current date and time range in view.

To zoom the timeline, click and drag on the timeline to select the zoom range you want to view or use the manual zoom controls to zoom in or out.

Example: To zoom in to view 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM on a given day start by hovering near 3:00 PM on the timeline, click and drag the mouse cursor to 5:00 PM and release.
The date picker will update to reflect the current date and time range in view.

Managing Machine Downtime

The ability to categorize machine downtime is a valuable feature of MachineMetrics. Categorizing machine downtime in MachineMetrics helps companies understand the main reasons why their machines go down, which is the critical first step in being able to analyze and minimize the costly disruptions to manufacturing processes caused by unplanned downtime. In most cases, machine downtime should be categorized at the time it occurs by the machine operator using the tablet interface.

Machine Downtime can also be managed from the Downtime Metric Tab on the Machine Overview Tab. This feature allows for bulk categorization of downtime. Learn more.

Using the Timeline application, Manager and Executive users can categorize machine downtime that was not initially categorized (or was incorrectly categorized) by the operator as follows:

Identify the Downtime event to categorize or edit and hover over the bar. A tool tip appears as shown below, select Categorize Event.

The Categorize Downtime Event dialog will open as shown below:

Click the Downtime Category drop-down menu and select the category you want to assign to the downtime. You can also do the following in this dialog for categorized events:

Select the Planned checkbox to indicate that the downtime was planned, if applicable.
Add a message in the Operator Notes input to further explain the reason for the downtime.
When you have completed your entries, click the Save Changes button.