Asset Counters

Asset Counters track asset usage over time. This information supports maintenance planning, operational monitoring, and data-based decision-making.

Usage data is collected for machines and tools, with counters logged during production activities. Counters can record various types of usage metrics, such as:

  • Cycles
  • Pieces
  • Length
  • Weight

For example, a counter can record the number of completed cycles by a machine, the number of parts produced with a tool, or the amount of material processed.

These counters provide insights such as:

  • Total usage over the lifecycle of an asset.
  • Usage since the last maintenance or repair.
  • Usage between installations or tool changes.

This information can also support planning activities, such as:

  • Predicting when a tool reaches the end of the life so that a replacement can be purchased in time.
  • Planning cleaning activities based on the usage of an asset.
  • Planning inspections based on usage to track changes in asset condition.
  • Planning low-frequency maintenance activities at the appropriate time.
Counters can also be used to initiate automatic actions. For example, a maintenance task can be scheduled when a counter reaches a pre-defined threshold.
Note: Asset Counter functionality is available only when production data capture is used. This functionality works best when the production counts are captured automatically through Open Platform Communications (OPC).

Multiple counters can be defined for the same asset. For example, one counter can be used to initiate maintenance and another to track lifetime usage.

Once an Asset Counter is defined, this counter must be linked to the relevant assets. A priority sequence can also be specified to identify the highest priority counter in the selected reports. For example, if cycles and kilograms are tracked, and kilograms are the primary measure to track lifetime usage, the kilogram counter can be assigned sequence 1, and the cycles counter can be assigned sequence 2.

For relevant assets, the asset counts are captured automatically. A daily background process aggregates production counts into asset counts. For more information, see Asset Counter Sweep.

To enable capture of asset counts, these setups are required:

  • Asset Counter: Defines the type of asset count to be recorded.
  • Production Counter: Defines the source production count. The production counter must be marked as a maintenance count and linked to the asset counter. For more information, see Production Counters.
  • Asset to counter association: Links the relevant asset to the appropriate asset counter.

Asset Counts are applicable only to Lines, Machines, and Tools as these are the only Asset Types that can track the source production counts.