---
title: "Trigger maintenance from meter readings"
description: "A meter counts a machine's runtime hours or part count toward a trigger point, and acts when it gets there. Each meter lives on the Meters tab of a machine's page, carries three independent behaviors (an email at 85%, an email at the trigger, and an automatic work order at 100%), and starts a new cycle when a technician resets it. Resets are logged with who made them, and every work order the meter produced stays reachable from the meter card."
category: "Scheduled work"
source_url: "https://www.iotflows.com/docs/maintain/meters/"
---
# Trigger maintenance from meter readings

Count runtime or parts toward a trigger point, and act automatically when the machine gets there.

**Before you start.** You need a machine that is already reporting, from [Add a machine](/docs/monitoring/add-an-asset/). You need to be an Owner or an Administrator, from [Roles and permissions](/docs/admin/roles-reference/).

## 1. What a meter counts
A *meter* is a running total on one machine that never goes down on its own. IoTFlows adds to it from the machine's own stream, so nobody types a reading in.

A *trigger point* is the number the total is counting toward. Reaching it is what makes the meter act.

Open a machine from the Assets page and select the **Meters** tab, at `/<organization>/assets/selected-asset/<asset>`. The tab is headed **Usage Meters** and shows one card per meter. See [Inspect a single machine](/docs/monitoring/asset-detail/#tabs) for the other tabs.

Each card carries three numbers and a chart:

- **Time to Service** is how long the meter has left at the rate it has been running since its last reset. It reads `N/A` until there are two readings in the current cycle, and `Exceeded` once the total is past the trigger point.
- **Current** is the latest total. It turns amber at 75% of the trigger point and red at 100%.
- **Trigger Point** is the number you set.

The chart draws the total as a solid area and the forecast as a dashed one, against a red dashed line at the trigger point. The range buttons above it are **1M**, **3M**, **6M**, **1Y** and **All**, and open on **All**. Each reset starts a fresh segment, so the line drops back to zero at every reset rather than climbing forever.

![The Meters tab of a machine, headed Usage Meters with a New Meter button, showing meter cards stacked vertically; the first card reads Time to Service ~2 weeks, Current 985.79 hours in amber and Trigger Point 1,250 hours above a sawtooth area chart that resets to zero at each service and rides a red dashed trigger line, and the next card's header row is visible below it](/images/maintain/mnt-meter-01.webp)

*Meters on a machine. Each counts toward a trigger point.*

> **Info:**
> **A meter or a recurrence rule?**
>
> Choose a meter when the machine's usage varies week to week. Calendar PMs on a machine that ran two shifts last week and none this week are either early or late, never right.
>
> Choose a recurrence rule when the job is owed by the calendar whatever the machine did, like an annual inspection. See [Schedule preventive maintenance](/docs/maintain/preventive-maintenance/#no-pm-object).

## 2. Create a meter
1. On the **Meters** tab, select **New Meter**. The **Create Meter** modal opens.
2. Enter a **Name**, for example `Spindle bearing grease`.
3. Pick a **Meter Type**. The list is served by the platform; the runtime type counts in `hours` and the production type counts in `count`. Leave it on **None** and the meter counts with no unit.
4. Enter a **Trigger Point**. It starts at `1000`.
5. Turn on the behaviors you want. All three are off by default, and all three are covered in [The three alert behaviors](#alerts).
6. Select **Create Meter**. A toast reads **Meter created** and the card appears on the tab.

**Create Meter** stays disabled until the name has a character in it. Nothing else is required. ⌘+Enter, or Ctrl+Enter on Windows, submits the form; Escape closes it and discards what you typed.

A failed create raises the server's own message, or **Failed to create meter** when it has none.

### Meter fields
| Field | Required | Unit | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Name** | Yes | — | Names the card and the emails the meter sends. Editable later. |
| **Meter Type** | No | Sets the unit | The runtime type reads `hours`, the production type reads `count`, **None** reads nothing. The unit is a label on the numbers, not a conversion. |
| **Trigger Point** | No, defaults to `1000` | The type's unit | The number the total counts toward. Drawn as the red dashed line on the chart. |
| **Early Warning Alert** | No | — | Emails the maintenance team at 85% of the trigger point. |
| **Email Warning** | No | — | Emails the maintenance team when the trigger point is reached. |
| **Auto Work Order Creation** | No | — | Creates a maintenance work order at 100%. |

![The Create Meter modal with a Name field reading Spindle bearing grease, a Meter Type dropdown set to Runtime Hours, a Trigger Point (hours) field reading 2000 with an hours suffix, and three labelled toggles below a divider, with numbered callouts 1, 2 and 3 on the name, the type and the trigger point](/images/maintain/mnt-meter-02.webp)

*Creating a meter and setting its trigger point.*

## 3. Set the trigger point
Set it to the interval the work is actually owed on, in the meter's own unit: 500 running hours between grease intervals, 20,000 parts between die changes.

To change it later, select the **Trigger Point** number on the card and type over it. Enter saves, Escape cancels, and clicking away saves. A value of zero or less, or anything that is not a number, is discarded with no message, so check the number went in.

Changing the trigger point moves the red line and recomputes **Time to Service** straight away. It does not rewrite history: the totals already recorded stay where they are, and a meter that was under its old trigger point can be over the new one the moment you save.

## 4. The three alert behaviors
Each behavior is its own toggle on the card, and they are independent. A meter with all three off still counts; it never tells anyone.

| Behavior | Fires at | Channel | Creates work order |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Early Alert** | 85% of the trigger point | Email to the maintenance team | No |
| **Email Warning** | The trigger point, 100% | Email to the maintenance team | No |
| **Auto Work Order** | 100% | A work order for the maintenance team | Yes |

The toggles are labeled **Early Warning Alert**, **Email Warning** and **Auto Work Order Creation** in the create modal, and **Early Alert**, **Email Warning** and **Auto Work Order** on the card. They are the same three settings.

A toggle writes the moment you flip it, and a thin progress bar runs across the top of the card while it saves. A failed write puts the toggle back where it was and raises **Failed to update meter**.

Turn on the 85% early warning when the work needs a part ordered, and the 100% auto work order when it does not. An auto work order that arrives the day the part runs out is a work order that sits On Hold.

You do not need all three. Two emails about the same meter four days apart is how people learn to filter the sender.

![A cropped detail of a meter card's control panel showing three toggle rows labelled Early Alert, Email Warning and Auto Work Order, numbered one to three, beside a Reset Meter button](/images/maintain/mnt-meter-03.webp)

*The three behaviors: early warning at 85%, email at the trigger, and an automatic work order at 100%.*

> **Warning:**
> **The line under the chart is not a status**
>
> Every meter card carries the sentence **Work order created when usage reaches N** under its chart, whether **Auto Work Order** is on or off. It restates the trigger point; it does not tell you the behavior is armed. The toggle is the only place that does.

## 5. Reset a meter
A *reset* ends the current cycle and starts the count again from zero on the date you give it. Reset the meter when the work is done, not when the work order is created, or the next cycle starts early.

1. On the card, select **Reset Meter**. The **Reset Usage Meter** dialog opens.
2. Set **Reset Date**. It defaults to today, and you can backdate it to the day the technician actually did the job.
3. Select **Confirm Reset**.

A toast reads **Meter reset successfully** and the card reloads: **Current** drops back toward zero, the chart starts a new segment at the reset date, and **Time to Service** reads `N/A` until the new cycle has two readings in it.

The dialog takes a date and not a time. Every reset is stored at noon UTC on the date you pick, so a reset dated today and a reading from this morning land in the order you would expect wherever your plant is.

A failed reset raises **Failed to reset meter** and the cycle is unchanged.

![The Reset Usage Meter dialog with the line Set the date when the meter was reset, a Reset Date field holding today's date, and Cancel and Confirm Reset buttons with Confirm Reset outlined, over a meter card whose Current figure of 2128.12 hours is red](/images/maintain/mnt-meter-04.webp)

*Resetting a meter after the work is done.*

## 6. Reset history
Select the **⋮** button beside **Reset Meter**, then **Reset History**. The dialog lists every reset on the meter, newest first.

| Column | What it holds |
|---|---|
| **Reset Date** | The date the cycle restarted from. |
| **Updated By** | The member who logged the reset, with their avatar. |
| **Last Modified** | When the row was last written, to the minute. |

Only the newest row carries **Edit** and **Delete**, because only the newest reset bounds the cycle the meter is counting now. Select **Edit** to correct the date and **Save** to write it: the toast reads **Reset updated**, or **Failed to update reset**. **Delete** removes the reset and folds its cycle back into the one before it, with **Reset deleted** or **Failed to delete reset**.

A meter nobody has reset yet reads **No reset history found**.

![The Reset History dialog showing a three-column table of Reset Date, Updated By and Last Modified with three rows, and Edit and Delete buttons on the top row only](/images/maintain/mnt-meter-05.webp)

*The Reset History table: one row per reset, with the member who logged it and when. Only the newest row can be edited or deleted.*

## 7. Linked work orders
Select **⋮**, then **Work Orders**, to see the maintenance work orders this meter produced, newest first. Each row shows the work order number, its title, its status badge and when it was last touched.

Selecting a row closes the dialog and opens the maintenance board with that work order in the drawer, at `/<organization>/maintenance?selected_wo=<work order>`. From there it is an ordinary work order: assign it, add parts, close it. See [Update, discuss, and close a work order](/docs/maintain/work-order-detail/).

A meter that has never reached 100% with **Auto Work Order** on reads **No pending work orders for this meter**. This list is the meter's own output, so a work order you raised by hand for the same job does not appear here.

This dialog is the fastest way to answer "did anyone act on this meter", which is worth checking before you reset it.

## 8. Edit or delete a meter
Everything on the card is editable in place, and every edit saves on its own:

- Select the **name** to rename the meter. Enter saves, Escape cancels. An empty name is discarded.
- Select the **type pill** beside the name to change the meter type. The card's list holds the platform's types and no **None** option, so a meter created without a type can be given one here but not have it taken away.
- Select the **Trigger Point** number to change it, as in [Set the trigger point](#trigger-point).
- Flip any of the three toggles.

Each edit applies to the card immediately and then writes. If the write fails, the card reverts and raises **Failed to update meter**, so the number you are looking at is always the number that saved.

To delete, select **⋮**, then **Delete Meter**, then **Delete** in the confirmation. A toast reads **Meter has been deleted** and the card leaves the tab.

> **Warning:**
> **Check Work Orders before you delete**
>
> The confirmation asks only "Are you sure you want to delete meter *name*?". It does not count the work orders the meter created or say what happens to them. Open **Work Orders** first and close or reassign anything still open, so nothing is left on the board with no meter behind it.

## See also
- [Schedule preventive maintenance](/docs/maintain/preventive-maintenance/). The calendar alternative to a meter, for work the machine's usage does not drive.
- [Set alert rules for a machine](/docs/alerts/asset-event-rules/). The other way a machine raises a work order on its own.
- [Inspect a single machine](/docs/monitoring/asset-detail/). The tabs beside **Meters** on the same page.
- [Create a maintenance work order](/docs/maintain/create-a-work-order/). Every field a work order carries, including the ones an auto work order arrives without.
- [How each metric is calculated](/docs/monitoring/metrics-reference/#production). Where the part counts a meter reads come from.