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Entering Hierarchy Codes for Assets

The asset’s hierarchy location identifies where the asset is in the physical hierarchy (the first asset hierarchy is assumed to be the physical hierarchy). APM automatically constructs the hierarchy location based on the hierarchy code that you enter for each asset.

A hierarchy code is a string of up to 10 letters and numbers that identifies an individual asset. For the hierarchy location to be useful, enter a hierarchy code that gives users some indication of the asset’s function and location. For example, if a generator set is located on the north side of the plant, you might enter “NGenSet”. If the generator set has a pump location, you might enter “PumpSta1” on the component location record, and “Pump1” on the record for the pump component asset.

APM creates the hierarchy location string from the hierarchy codes of all the parent assets. Each hierarchy code is separated by a dot. APM does not go higher than the site level to construct the hierarchy location. The diagram below shows how the hierarchy location relates to an asset hierarchy.

The hierarchy location is most helpful with component assets that tend to be installed at a number of different component locations over time. The hierarchy location is automatically updated whenever the asset moves in the physical hierarchy. This provides an accurate and reliable indication of where the asset is located within the physical hierarchy.

You might experience performance problems if you make a large number of changes to the physical hierarchy or to the hierarchy codes of a large number of assets.

If you will be making a lot of changes to assets and hierarchies, you might want to temporarily turn off the automatic updating of asset hierarchy locations to improve system performance while you are working. For more information, see Enabling and Disabling Construction of Hierarchy Locations.

You can quickly see which assets do not yet have hierarchy codes entered or that have duplicate codes, from the site’s Assets view, Listing tab.

To Enter Hierarchy Codes For Assets

1.	Select the site’s Assets view and then the Listing tab.

2.	From the list of configurations, select Count by hierarchy location. This table sorts the list of assets by hierarchy location. The number of assets that share a concatenated hierarchy location is shown in the Count column.

3.	To view the assets that share a hierarchy location, click the “+” button in the table.

4.	To enter or change the hierarchy code for an asset, double-click the asset in the table. The Asset window appears, showing the Properties view, General tab.

5.	Make sure that editing is enabled.

6.	On the Location tab, enter the new code in the Hierarchy code box. The system calculates the new hierarchy location when the Construction of Hierarchy Locations option is re-enabled.