--- title: "Add a machine" description: "Create a machine as an asset in IoTFlows: pick its catalog model, set the name and identifier your plant uses, assign a department, and add tags." category: "Manage assets" source_url: "https://www.iotflows.com/docs/monitoring/add-an-asset/" --- # Add a machine Create the machine record that a sensor's data reports into. An *asset* is one machine as IoTFlows tracks it: a catalog model, a name, an identifier, a department, and the sensor that reports its status. Nothing in Machine monitoring has data for a machine until that machine exists as an asset. You create assets one at a time from the Assets page. **Before you start** - Sign in as an Organization Owner or Organization Administrator. Other roles see the **Add asset** button but cannot open it. See [Roles reference](/docs/admin/roles-reference/). - Nothing else. The asset does not need a sensor to exist. See [Pair a sensor](#pairing). ## Open Add asset 1. Go to **Assets** at `//assets`. 2. Select **Add asset** at the top of the page. ![The Add asset button in the Assets page toolbar](/images/monitoring/mon-add-01.webp) *The Add asset button sits at the top right of the Assets page toolbar, beside Edit Assets.* The **Add Asset** modal opens on **Select Sensor**. Skip it: select **Skip, I'll do this later.** to reach the catalog. ## Find the machine in the catalog The catalog is the shared list of machine models IoTFlows already knows. Each entry carries a photo, a model identifier, and a manufacturer, and picking one is what gives the asset card its picture and model line. 1. Select **Find or add a machine...** and type part of the model or the manufacturer, for example `VF-2`. 2. Select the machine from the results. ![The Find or add a machine field showing catalog search results](/images/monitoring/mon-add-02.webp) *The Find or add a machine field searches the IoTFlows catalog and returns matching models with a photo and manufacturer. Every asset starts from a model in this list.* The catalog is the one field you cannot change after saving. Every other field on this page is editable from the asset's **Edit** modal. See [Edit, hide, archive, or delete a machine](/docs/monitoring/edit-assets/). > **Note:** > **Model not in the catalog?** The search covers the whole IoTFlows catalog, not only models your organization already runs. If nothing matches, pick the closest model from the same manufacturer, then set **Machine Name** and **Machine Identifier** to your own values. Those two fields and the photo are what operators read on the board, so the catalog entry matters less than it looks. To have your exact model added, [contact IoTFlows support](/docs/get-started/get-support/). ## Name and ID Two fields carry your plant's own vocabulary onto every screen. 1. In **Machine Identifier**, type the number your plant uses for this machine, for example `trx-as800`. 2. In **Machine Name**, type the name operators say out loud, for example `Haas VF-2 #3`. ![The Machine Identifier and Machine Name fields filled in, with numbered callouts](/images/monitoring/mon-add-03.webp) *Machine Identifier and Machine Name sit below the selected catalog model. Set the identifier to whatever your plant already paints on the machine.* Set the custom asset ID to whatever your plant already paints on the machine. Every export, every report and every operator conversation uses that number, and a system that invents its own gets translated by hand forever. Both fields are optional, and leaving **Machine Name** blank costs you. The asset then falls back to the catalog model name, so a shop with four Haas VF-2s gets four cards reading `Haas VF-2`. ## Assign a department A *department* is the single grouping every asset must have, for example `Machining` or `Welding`. The Assets page filters by it and the utilization reports group rows by it. 1. Select **Select Department**. 2. Pick an existing department, or type a new name and press Enter to create it. Creating a department here creates it for the whole organization, and IoTFlows confirms with "Department has been added". Department is required: **Add Asset** stays disabled until you pick one. Choose the departments you would want as section headings in a report you hand to a plant manager. If a split only ever matters as a filter, make it a tag instead. ## Add tags A *tag* is a free-text label, and one asset can carry any number of them. 1. Select **Tags**. 2. Pick a tag from the list of tags already used in your organization, or type a new one and press Enter or Tab. 3. Repeat for each tag you want. ![The Tags field of the Add Asset modal with two tags applied](/images/monitoring/mon-add-04.webp) *The Tags field holds any number of labels as removable chips, for filters the department field cannot express.* You do not need tags on day one. Add them when you first want a filter the department field cannot express, for example `5-axis` across three departments, or `lease-return-2027` on the six machines going back. ## Pair a sensor An asset reports no status, no uptime and no production until a sensor is tied to it. You do not do this yourself, and the **Select Sensor** step in the **Add Asset** modal is not the way in. Skip that step. Contact IoTFlows to tie your sensors to an asset. See [Get support](/docs/get-started/get-support/). Tying a sensor to an asset does not calibrate it. A SenseAi reports raw signal until it is calibrated against the machine. See [Calibrate a SenseAi sensor](/docs/hardware/calibrate-senseai/). ## Save and verify 1. Select **Add Asset**. 2. Wait for the confirmation "Asset has been added". The modal closes and the Assets page reloads. 3. Find the new card on the Assets page and check that the name and identifier read the way your plant says them. 4. If a sensor is already tied to this asset, check that the card reads as live rather than gray within a few minutes. **Add Asset** stays disabled until you have selected both a machine and a department. If the button is active and the save still fails, the modal shows the message the server returned, or "Something went wrong" when there is no message. Nothing is saved in that case. See [Troubleshoot wrong utilization or OEE](/docs/monitoring/troubleshoot-monitoring/). ## Add asset fields | Field | Required | Accepts | Used by | Changeable later | |---|---|---|---|---| | Sensor | No | Skip this step | Status, uptime, downtime, production counts | Contact IoTFlows | | Machine (catalog) | Yes | One entry from the IoTFlows machine catalog | Card photo, model line, manufacturer logo | No | | **Machine Identifier** | No | Free text, for example `trx-as800` | Exports, reports, search | Yes, in the asset's **Edit** modal | | **Machine Name** | No | Free text | Every card, board, report and work order | Yes, in the asset's **Edit** modal | | **Select Department** | Yes | One department, existing or newly typed | Assets page filter, report grouping | Yes, in the asset's **Edit** modal | | **Tags** | No | Any number of free-text labels | Assets page filter | Yes, in the asset's **Edit** modal | ## See also - [Edit, hide, archive, or delete a machine](/docs/monitoring/edit-assets/) - [Group machines into cascades](/docs/monitoring/asset-groups/) - [Calibrate a SenseAi sensor](/docs/hardware/calibrate-senseai/) - [Control who sees which machines](/docs/admin/machine-access/)