Targets and hierarchy

This page describes the main targets of the service and their hierarchical relationship. Understanding the targets and their hierarchy helps to model the desired target service in the most logical way.

The service is intended for monitoring and measurement tasks and collecting data into logical entitie. The terminology used by the service has been kept as general as possible. It is recommended to name the objects created in the customer environment in a way that the service users understand and recognize them best.

Service

Nokeval® NSnappy® cloud service - the top-level concept - is referred to as service in this guide.

Client

Companies and organizations using the service are referred to as clients. For each client, one or more client accounts can be created in the service. Both terms client and client account can be used equally. Service users may have access to one or more client accounts.

Site

One client account may include one or more sites. As the name suggests, a site should describe a geographically separate site, building, or other location where the client has service-related activities. A site is typically one building or part of it, wing, or floor. Examples of sites include a factory, office, hotel, restaurant, school kitchen, daycare kitchen, etc. In some cases, a large building or campus could be divided into multiple sites.

Block

A site can be divided into one or more parts called blocks. In the service, a name is given for a block. It is also possible to add a floor plan to the block, on top of which the monitoring points of the block can be placed. If a site has, for example, multiple factory or restaurant blocks, these could be defined as blocks in the service.

Control Point

Control point is a very central concept in the service. It is directly related to self-monitoring, which English equivalent and abbreviation is HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points). The purpose of a control point is to model critical and other monitoring points of self-monitoring plans. HACCP or self-monitoring systems are used especially in food production and the transportation, handling, and storage of other perishable products. In self-monitoring planning, hazards are analyzed and identified, and based on this analysis, it is decided which points should be monitored to manage and prevent risks.

Typical control points are, for example: goods receiving, frozen storage, cold product storage, food preparation, serving line, rapid cooling cabinet, cold transport, surface hygiene, weekly cleaning, etc.

Channel

A control point is divided into channels, where different types of monitoring data for the control point are recorded and where tasks related to monitoring are performed.

Examples best illustrate the importance of channels: good examples of channels include temperature of cold storage, cooking temperature, humidity, mass, number of pieces, salt content, pH, handle surface hygiene, work top surface hygiene, serving waste, plate waste, etc. Only one type of data, whose measurement unit is always the same, is intended to be recorded for each channel. For example, only temperature data for the upper shelf of the "Meat Cold Room" control point is recorded in the "Upper Shelf Temperature" channel. In this case, the measurement quantity for this channel is temperature, and the unit is °C. If, for example, waste data is also intended to be recorded for the same cold room, another channel "Storage Waste" is created for this purpose, with mass as the measurement quantity and, for example, kg as the unit.

Since all measurement data is recorded for channels in the service, notification and alarm limits can be defined for channels. In addition, all scheduled tasks are performed and task acknowledgments are recorded for channels.

Purpose

In this service, a purpose is used to describe a named set of notification limits, such as warning and alarm limits for high temperature. Purposes are simplifying and standardizing how the control points and channels are configured in the service.

For example, a purpose named "Temperature of Fish Cold Room" includes information about the measurement quantity "temperature" and the notification limit "Fish Cold Room Too Warm", with an upper limit of 3°C and severity "alarm". In the control point "Kitchen Fish Cold Room", the "Temperature" channel, you simply select the purpose "Temperature of Fish Cold Room" from the list.

Notification condition

A notification condition refers to a combination of the following: condition name, condition type, limit, severity, delay, and hysteresis. A notification condition can be used to describe, for example, the conditions under which a high temperature in the fish cold room should trigger an upper limit alert, for example:

Condition name: "Fish Cold Room is Too Warm!"
Condition type: upper limit
Limit: 3°C
Severity: alert
Delay: 30 minutes
Hysteresis: none

Notification and Notification Message

A notification refers to an event created in the service when a notification limit is exceeded for a channel. Notifications are categorized based on severity as follows:

Alert (red color)
Warning (orange color)
Informative (blue color)

Each notification can be individually acknowledged. Each notification can also include necessary additional information, such as the product or batch the notification concerns, as well as the reasons for the notification and corrective and preventive measures. Users can also subscribe notifications by using access rights.

A user refers to an user account created in the service for using the service. The user account can be personal or a shared general user account.

One user can have login access to one or more client and also usage rights to the objects of these clients.

Team

A team refers to a named group to which one or more users can be added. Usage rights given to the team automatically become the usage rights of all users belonging to the team. Similarly, if a user is removed from the team, they immediately lose the usage rights they received through the team.

Usage right

One usage right includes three things:

who has been given the usage right (user or team)
to what target (client, site, bloc, control point, warehouse)
what level of usage, i.e., how extensive the usage rights holder gets to the object (viewing, report admin, document admin, notification reception, acknowledging notifications, task execution, admin of settings)

Schedule

Schedule refers to a named schedule specification. For example, a schedule "Mondays 8-12" would be valid every Monday between 8-12. Schedules can be created and named freely. Each schedule can be used for multiple purposes. The following targets can be scheduled in the service:

Tasks
Usage rights
Purposes
Sending reports as email attachments to recipients

Task Description

Task description is a description of a task that is intended to be performed repeatedly at specified channel according to a certain schedule. A task description may include also:

Instructions for performing the task
A list of necessary tools and materials
Information about the measuring device used in the measurement
Ready-made response options or subtasks
Documents

The task description generates tasks for the channels according to the set schedule. The content of the task description is visible for the user when executing the task.

Task

Task is an individual task assignment related to an channel that must be acknowledged as completed within a specified schedule. In connection with this acknowledgment, the task must be recorded with the information specified in the task description, such as possible measurement results and subtasks, as well as task remarks.

Bulletin

Bulletin is a simple message that is intended to be communicated either to all users of the client or only to users of specific site on the dashboard of the service. Bulletins are displayed on the front page in Bulletin board widget and in the Sites quick access widget.

If you want to use bulletins, make sure that the dashboard template has a suitable widget in use.

Document

Document is a file uploaded to the service, such as an image, video, or PDF file. The document can be directly attached to one of the following targets: site, block, control point, task description, task, and measuring device.

Documents are also displayed collectively in the targets they are included in. For example, a document attached to a control point is displayed on the site's documents. Similarly, a document attached to a measuring device is displayed on the documents of the control point where the measuring device is installed.

All documents attached to different target are visible and can be managed through the documents function in settings.

Measuring Device

Measuring device or device is a device attached to the service that can produce measurement results for a channel.

Measuring devices can be either automatically functioning ones that are installed at control points or manually operated measuring devices that are taken to a physical measurement execution point for taking a measurement result.

A measuring device can have one or more sensors. More detailed information about the measuring device and its sensors can be seen in the service's device management.

Sensor

Sensor is a component of a measuring device that can measure a specific measurement quantity. The suitability of the sensor for a specific purpose and measurement range (e.g., temperature range) depends on the properties of the sensor.

The service's device management shows which sensors each measuring device contains and what are the measurement quantity, measurement range, and measurement accuracy of these sensors.

Warehouse

Warehouse is a named logical place for measuring devices. It does not necessarily have to be a physical place or an real existing warehouse but it can also be used as an place for device inventory.

When new measuring devices are ordered to the service, they automatically appear in the client's warehouse in the service. Measuring devices can be installed at control points or moved to another warehouse from the delivery warehouse.

When a measuring device is installed at a control point, its so-called home warehouse is remembered, and the measuring device automatically returns to this home warehouse if it is removed from the control point.

Measurement Quantity

Measurement quantity refers to a measurable physical quantity such as temperature, mass, or amount. Each measurement result stored in the service always represents a certain measurement quantity, and its value is presented in a specific unit of measurement, such as kilograms.

Unit of Measurement

Measurement values are always presented in a specific unit of measurement. For example, the measurement value of the measurement quantity mass is often presented in the unit kg or kilogram. The service supports several different units of measurement and automatic conversion of measurement values between units of measurement to the user's preferred units of measurement. The values of quantities are always stored in the service in so-called base units of measurement.