Configuration options¶
Cross-cutting decisions an Admin or Mapper makes when setting up and tuning the platform. Each entry frames the decision, summarises the trade-offs, and points to the detailed page for step-by-step instructions.
Who should read this
Admins and Mappers during initial setup, and quarterly when reviewing configuration. Technicians, Supervisors, Managers, and Viewers can skim for context.
How to use this page¶
This is a decision map, not a how-to. Each section names a choice, tells you the practical differences between the options, and suggests a default for most installations. The linked detail pages tell you how to execute the choice once you've made it.
Physical tag strategy: NFC vs QR codes¶
The choice: how do technicians open a task point on mobile?
| Option | When to choose |
|---|---|
| NFC tags | Default. Fastest scan. Works even with the camera blocked. ~$0.50 per tag, durable with the right enclosure. |
| QR-code labels | Metal-heavy areas where NFC detunes, sites without NFC hardware on every phone, budget-constrained rollouts (printing is effectively free). |
| Both | Mixed plants — NFC in benign areas, QR on engine blocks / wash-down zones. Most large sites end up here. |
Default: NFC with on-metal variants for ferrous surfaces. Add QR labels only for the 10–20% of spots where NFC proves unreliable.
See: NFC tags (web portal) · Writing NFC tags (mobile) · Scanning barcodes (mobile).
How work gets generated: recurring vs ad-hoc¶
The choice: where does the next task come from?
| Option | When to choose |
|---|---|
| Recurring schedules | Default for preventive maintenance — regular, predictable, time- or run-hour-based. Set once, forget. |
| Run-hour-driven | Equipment where wear is a function of usage, not wall-clock time. Needs Production tasks that capture run hours. |
| Ad-hoc | One-off work: commissioning, decommissioning, one-time inspections. |
| Reactive (via repair requests) | Issues discovered in the field that trigger a Repair task after triage. |
Default: recurring for ~80% of tasks, ad-hoc for commissioning, repair-request-driven for breakdowns. Run-hour schedules only where you have reliable Production-task capture of run hours.
See: Scheduling (web portal) · Repair requests (mobile).
Safety-gating: which tasks need a procedure?¶
The choice: which tasks require the technician to acknowledge safety measures before the form loads?
| Situation | Choice |
|---|---|
| Always-safe routine inspection (visual check, run-hour read) | No safety procedure. Adding one here becomes theatre; it gets tapped through. |
| Electrical work, hot work, confined space, working at height, chemical handling | Always attach a safety procedure. Keep it specific (3–8 steps). |
| General maintenance on potentially-energised equipment | Attach a baseline procedure covering PPE + LOTO verification. |
| Catch-all "safety everywhere" | Anti-pattern. Procedures lose meaning when every task has one. |
Default: task-specific safety procedures on the ~20% of tasks where the risk justifies it; nothing on the other 80%.
See: Safety procedures (web portal).
Threshold strictness: tight vs loose values¶
The choice: how aggressive are your min/max values on numeric fields?
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| Tight (narrow range) | Out-of-range highlights appear often. Supervisors see more "out-of-spec" submissions. Drives diagnostic attention, but also normalises orange / red fields (alert fatigue). |
| Loose (wide range) | Fewer alerts. Real outliers stand out clearly when they appear. Risk: an early warning gets missed because the threshold was too forgiving. |
| Staged (advisory + warning + critical) | Separate thresholds for "worth noting" vs "needs action" vs "line-stop". Supervisors can filter to just the red ones. Slightly more setup; much better signal. |
Default: staged for critical measurements (bearing temperature, pressure, voltage), loose for routine indicators (general condition), tight only after ≥3 months of real data shows a stable distribution.
See: Master data › Thresholds.
Where to define tasks: component-level vs asset-level¶
The choice: define tasks on the component type (shared) or on each asset individually (per-asset)?
| Option | When to choose |
|---|---|
| Component-level (default) | 20 similar pumps with the same maintenance profile. Define once, every asset inherits. Single edit updates all. |
| Asset-level | One-off equipment, prototypes, assets where maintenance diverges from the generic component. |
| Hybrid | Component-level default task set + asset-level overrides for quirks. Best of both for mature plants. |
Default: component-level whenever the asset class has ≥3 similar instances. Asset-level only for unique or outlier equipment.
See: Components (web portal) · Asset hierarchy.
Shutdown classification: planned vs unplanned¶
The choice: how do you categorise shutdowns for OEE reporting?
| Option | Effect on OEE |
|---|---|
| Planned (maintenance window, scheduled change-over) | Excluded from unplanned-downtime; availability metric is unaffected. |
| Unplanned (equipment failure, safety stop, material shortage) | Counts against availability. Drives the main OEE signal. |
| Force-majeure (utility outage, external supply failure) | Separately categorised; some installations exclude from operational metrics. |
Default: log planned shutdowns before they happen (on the web portal). Unplanned shutdowns reported from mobile default to Unplanned unless the reporting technician knows better.
See: Shutdowns (web portal) · Reporting a shutdown (mobile).
Photo policy: required vs optional¶
The choice: make photos a required field on certain task types?
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| Required | Higher-quality submissions. Slower execution — technician can't leave the field empty. Some environments (confined space, low light) make this impractical. |
| Optional | Faster execution. Lower proof-of-work for audit. Supervisors can't always verify claimed condition. |
| Required on Repair, Optional elsewhere | Good balance. The tasks where a photo really matters get one; routine tasks stay fast. |
Default: required on Repair tasks, shutdowns, and any task where a "before" or "after" condition shot is diagnostically useful. Optional on lubrication and routine inspection.
See: Photos and attachments (mobile) · Task types.
Notification tuning: breadth vs focus¶
The choice: how many notification categories do you enable by default for new users?
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| Everything on (platform default) | New users get every category via push + email. Surprising volume; most users tune down within a week. |
| Narrow default (company-wide) | Only critical categories on by default (assigned, overdue, repair updates). Less noise; users opt into the rest. |
| Role-specific defaults | Technicians on for task lifecycle. Supervisors on for submissions and repairs. Managers on for weekly report only. |
Default: role-specific where your installation supports it. Otherwise narrow default — quiet opt-in beats loud opt-out.
See: Notifications (web portal) · Notifications (mobile) · Notifications reference.
User scoping: company-wide vs production-site¶
The choice: should a user see data from the whole company, or only from specific production sites?
| Option | When to choose |
|---|---|
| Company-wide (default) | Single-site companies. Small multi-site setups where everyone can see everything. |
| Production-site scoped | Multi-site companies where sites operate semi-independently. Technicians see only their plant's tasks. |
| Mixed | Most users scoped to their site; Admins and Managers company-wide. |
Default: company-wide for everyone initially. Add site-scoping only when complaints arise about information overload or segregation requirements.
See: User management (web portal) · Permissions matrix.
Role assignment: single-role vs multi-role¶
The choice: does a user have one role or several?
| Situation | Choice |
|---|---|
| Pure function (a technician who only executes tasks) | Single role: Technician. |
| Working supervisor (executes tasks AND assigns others' work) | Multi-role: Technician + Supervisor. |
| Mapper who also admins | Multi-role: Mapper + Admin. |
| Viewer with occasional reporting access | Viewer + Manager (Manager adds report export). |
Multi-role users get the union of all assigned permissions. Nothing subtracts.
Default: one role per user for ~70% of your team. Multi-role only where responsibilities genuinely combine.
See: User management (web portal) · Permissions matrix.
Bulk operations: CSV import vs manual entry¶
The choice: import users, hierarchy, or master data from CSV, or enter each manually?
| Option | When to choose |
|---|---|
| Manual entry | Under 20 items. Already signed in and adding incrementally. Demonstrating the workflow during training. |
| CSV import | Bulk onboarding, migration from another system, seeding a new tenant. Up to 5,000 rows per upload. |
| Mixed | Bulk-seed the initial set via CSV, then maintain incrementally via manual entry. Most real installations do this. |
Default: manual for ongoing changes, CSV for any one-shot load over ~20 items.
See: User management › Import users from CSV · Asset hierarchy › Bulk import via CSV · File formats.
Export format: CSV, PDF, or XLSX¶
The choice: which format for sharing report data?
| Format | Best for |
|---|---|
| CSV | BI pipelines, Excel / Google Sheets analysis, anything programmatic. Raw values, no formatting. |
| Print-ready, share-to-stakeholder, audit packs. Includes filters applied and company logo. | |
| XLSX | Sharing with colleagues who will sort / filter / annotate. Coloured status cells, frozen panes. |
Default: XLSX for colleagues, CSV for integrations, PDF for audit / executive.
See: Reports › Exporting · File formats.
Translation strategy: English-first vs multi-language¶
The choice: rely on English or push translated content to every user?
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| English-only | Simpler. Works for small teams with shared language. |
| Auto-default to user's browser language (platform default) | Users see their preferred language when supported; English fallback otherwise. |
| Forced locale per user | Admin sets each user's language explicitly. Only useful when users don't know how to change it themselves. |
Default: leave it on browser-default. Users who want a specific language set it in their profile (Profile → Language).
See: Language and locale · Supported languages.
Where to turn a setting on or off¶
Most configuration is in one of three places:
- Company-wide settings — Admins configure in Settings. Applies to every user in the company.
- User profile — each user configures in Profile. Applies to them only.
- Master data — Admins configure in Master data. Referenced by tasks and components.
For feature toggles that are company-wide but optional, see Feature flags (web portal).
Review cadence¶
A healthy installation is re-visited:
- Weekly — approval queue, open shutdowns, open repair requests. (Operational.)
- Monthly — notification tuning, escalation effectiveness, cross-reference of metrics. (Admin / Manager.)
- Quarterly — threshold values against actual data, master-data cleanup, user roster reconciliation. (Admin.)
- Annually — physical tag audit (NFC skip report), safety-procedure content review, role audit. (Mapper + Admin + Safety Officer.)