How do I know when maintenance is approaching?
Maintenance should never come as a surprise.
Not when a machine suddenly refuses to start.
Not when a customer calls asking why it stopped working.
Not when you realise the service interval passed last week.
Most machines track the remaining time until the next service.
As this value counts down, it shows exactly how close you are to the next maintenance moment.
Maintenance monitoring is not about checking values manually.
It is about planning service before a machine becomes overdue.
By configuring maintenance notifications correctly, you:
Know in advance when service is approaching
Avoid unexpected downtime
Plan interventions efficiently
Stay in control instead of reacting
Below, we explain how maintenance monitoring works and how to ensure notifications are set up correctly in the portal.
Notification flow
Notifications are built from four components that work together:
Event definition: determines when something becomes a warning, error, or critical event
Notification preset: determines how you are informed (portal, email, SMS, etc.)
Notification role: groups notification presets for specific users or teams
Subscription: links users to specific assets using a notification role
If you are unfamiliar with these concepts, see How notifications are configured in the portal.
1. How maintenance monitoring works
For many asset types, the controller provides a value that represents the remaining time until the next service.
Depending on the asset type, this value may appear under different names, such as:
activeHours_absolute_total
engine.time_to_next_maintenance_alarm
ServiceTimer1_to_maintenance
Although the name may vary, the principle is the same:
The value counts down towards 0.
When it reaches 0, maintenance is due.
An Event Definition determines at which remaining value the system should trigger a Warning or Critical notification.
For example:
Warning when remaining hours drop below 50
Critical when remaining hours reach 0
This gives you time to schedule service before the machine becomes overdue.
Event Definitions are configured per asset type.
Make sure you select the correct asset type before configuring maintenance notifications.
2. How you are notified
There is a difference between:
When maintenance is approaching
How you are informed about it
The first part is controlled by an event on runtime.
The second part is controlled by a Notification Preset.
The level you select in your notification preset determines how early you want to be notified.
This depends on how the maintenance Event Definition is configured.
If a suitable preset already exists, you can simply use it. There is no need to create a new one.
Example: maintenance every 500 running hours:
Remaining hours < 250 → Warning (early planning)
Remaining hours < 100 → Error (schedule confirmed)
Remaining hours < 50 → Critical (urgent action)
If you select only Warning in the preset, you will be notified early.
If you select Error, you will be notified closer to the service moment.
If you select Critical, you will only be notified when maintenance is urgent.
You can also select multiple levels if you want escalation (e.g. Email at Warning, SMS at Critical).
3. Link the preset to a notification role
A notification preset by itself does not send anything.
Think of it like this:
The preset defines how notifications are sent.
The notification role defines who should receive them.
The preset must be linked to a notification role, otherwise no one will be informed, even if maintenance becomes due.
If a suitable notification role already exists, you only need to make sure the correct preset is linked to it.
If no role exists yet, you can create one and connect it to the appropriate preset.
4. Subscribe users to machines
Even if everything else is configured correctly, notifications will only be sent when users are subscribed to specific machines.
A subscription connects:
The user
The machine (asset)
The notification role
If a user is not subscribed to a machine, they will not receive notifications for that machine, regardless of how well everything else is set up.
It’s always worth double-checking subscriptions if notifications are not coming through.
How maintenance notifications work – Overview
Maintenance notifications consist of four building blocks:
Event definition: Determines when remaining time triggers a Warning or Critical notification.
Notification preset: Determines how you are informed (portal, email, etc.).
Notification role: Bundles notification presets.
Subscription: Links specific users to specific machines with a specific role.
If one of these elements is missing, notifications will not be delivered.