Skip to content
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

How to track when a job setup runs over its target time

Set OFS up so a job setup automatically moves to an unplanned downtime reason once it passes its target time. This is useful when you want changeover performance measured against a target rather than logged as one open-ended setup.

Click here to view the PDF document. 

Click here to view the article if the setup target time varies.

What you'll build

  • An unplanned downtime reason for the overdue setup
  • A dedicated Analytics User the alert uses to authenticate
  • A web service that reallocates the downtime to the overdue setup reason
  • An alert with a Machine State trigger that fires once the setup passes its target time

Screenshot 2026-09-10 at 6.50.59 pm

Before you start

Decide the following, because they set the values you enter later:

  • The target setup time and the lines it applies to.
  • Different lines can have different targets.

Two things reset the counter, so the setup starts again from zero:

  • A new shift or a new job starting during the setup.
  • The line moving out of setup into another downtime state or into running.

Step 1 — Create the downtime reason

In Fusion Manager, open Reasons and add a reason on the Categories & Reasons tab. In this example, we use Overdue Setup:

  • Set Downtime Type to Unplanned.
  • In Group, select Setup. This is what keeps the overtime counted as setup time rather than general downtime. Add Hidden as well so the reason stays off the operator's reason list.

Then assign the reason to a line on the Reasons Assignment tab.

image4

Step 2 — Create a user for the alert

The web service needs credentials to log in with, so create a dedicated user rather than reusing a person's account.

  1. Go to the Users & Operators tab.
  2. Enter a Name, Login and Password, for example a name of Alert Expiry and a login of Alert.
  3. Set Role to Analytics User, leave Language and Country as they are, and set Active to on.
  4. Select Update.

image10-1

Step 3 — Create the web service

You need one web service per unplanned downtime reason.

Go to the Services tab, select Web, and create a new service with a descriptive title, for example Setup Expiry (30 mins).

On the Connection tab, set HTTP Method to GET and enter this URL with your own details:

https://customer.ofsxpress.com/WorkcentreID/server/control/downtime/allocate/@reasoncode
image7
  • customer is the name of your organisation. If your OFS runs on a local server, replace customer.ofsxpress.com with the server IP address, for example https://10.123.456.78/WorkcentreID/server/control/downtime/allocate/@reasoncode.
  • WorkcentreID is the OFS line identifier, for example OFS001. You'll find it in Fusion Manager or in the Operator Console page URL. To cover multiple lines with one service, use {{workcentre}} in place of the line identifier.
  • reasoncode is the Reason Code on the unplanned reason you created in step 1. Open that reason in Reasons and copy the value from the Reason Code field.

image5-1

On the Authentication tab, turn Basic Auth on and enter the User Name and Password from step 2. Leave Pre-emptive Auth off. Select Update & Test to check the connection, then Update to save.

image6-1

Step 4 — Create the alert

  1. Go to the Alerts & Flow tab, then Alerts.
  2. Create an Alert Group for this type of alert, for example Setup Expiry.
  3. Create an Alert inside that group, named after the target time, for example Setup Expiry (30 mins).

Keep group and alert names descriptive. A site with several lines and several target times builds up a long list quickly.

image8-1

Step 5 — Add the machine state trigger

Open the alert you created, go to the Triggers tab and select Machine State, then add a trigger.

  1. In the Machine State list, tick Setup.
  2. Toggle Group Adjacent Spans within Jobs on.
  3. Toggle Offset on and enter the target time, for example 30. Set Offset and Repeat Units to minutes.
  4. In Lines, select the lines this applies to.
  5. In Services, select the web service from step 3.
  6. Leave Reason or Category, On Start, On End and Repeat off, then select Update.

Reason or Category stays off here because the trigger is watching the setup state itself, not one particular reason.

The trigger now reads as a single line: setup, after 30 minutes, one service, one line.

image11-1

Test it

Start a job on the configured line and leave the line in setup past the target time.

  • Up to the target time, the machine state shows Setup.
  • Once the target time passes, OFS allocates the remaining time to the overdue setup reason. On the event chart, the setup span ends and an overdue span begins.

If the counter resets partway through, check whether a new job or shift started, or whether the line dropped into another downtime state and back into setup.

Adapting it to your own lines

  • One web service per unplanned reason. Lines expiring to different reasons need a service each.
  • One alert and trigger per target time. Lines that share a target can share a trigger.
  • To use one service across several lines, swap the line identifier for {{workcentre}} in the service URL and select all the lines in the trigger.
  • The same approach tracks planned activities that run long during a job, such as a CIP. See the planned activity overtime article on the Customer Portal.