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💡 Extending the concept of hourly averages to shorter time intervals📎 Related post: Calculations of hourly average consumption values 📌 BackgroundIn process industries, consumption monitoring of resources such as steam, water, electricity, and compressed air is key to ensuring energy efficiency and sustainable operations. While hourly averages provide a solid overview, shorter intervals like 30 minutes can deliver even more granular insights—especially for fast-changing processes or detailed performance analysis.👉 In some cases, half-hourly averages are required for regulatory reporting, for example to comply with environmental or energy-related limits imposed by authorities. Having these values available ensures transparency and compliance. 🎯 ChallengeHow can we calculate average consumption values for fixed 30-minute intervals and distinguish them from rolling values? And how can we ensure the values are visualized cleanly as stepwise changes in the trend? 🛠️ Solution✅ Rolling
In TrendMiner, time tags play a crucial role in process analysis. They allow users to define and segment data based on specific hours, days, weeks, months, quarters, and years, enabling precise time-based calculations. Many key performance indicators (KPIs) rely on time-based reporting, such as: Daily production totals Hourly average flowrates Monthly energy usage Quarterly business metrics Example of HOUR time tags in TrendMiner.TrendMiner time tags for the US Central time zone.Why Time Tags Matter in TrendMinerTime tags can be especially useful when defining formula tags that incorporate a time-based component. For example, you might need to calculate averages over specific time intervals or align production metrics with financial reporting periods. Like any other tag, time tags can also be utilized in value-based searches and monitors.Handling Less Common Time ZonesTrendMiner includes predefined time tags for commonly used time zones, making it easy to apply time-based ana
I just saw a question pop up in the community asking whether TrendMiner has built-in steam equations. While they are not built-in, here’s a way to start using steam equations in TrendMiner...A while back, I implemented the numeric steam table equations found on https://iapws.org/relguide/IF97-Rev.html into TrendMiner Formula Tags. I am posting those here in the hopes it can help some other users too.The attached zip file contains txt files for formulas that can be copy-pasted into a Tag Builder formula for steam table calculations.Formula units are currently in Celsius and bar, so you might need to adjust accordingly. Text search and replace should work to change the input units, for example 'P' -> '(P*1000)' to use tags that are in mbar. To change the output unit you can simply multiply the formula by a constant value.
In this series of posts, we will dive into the building blocks for a personal TrendMiner Coach Success plan. The topic of this third post is Knowledge. Previous posts: Awareness, Desire Question: How do you handle knowledge sharing in your company? Let us know in the comments below! Why focus on making users knowledgeable on TrendMiner?Knowledge on using the TrendMiner platform transforms into the ability for users to gather insights to fuel process improvements. From a change perspective, it’s vital to give users a sense of experience with the TrendMiner platform as it gives them peace of mind. When asking people to change, we ask people to leave previous ways of working behind. This can be scary as it also means people are asked to give up their built-up experience - and comfort - with a promise of benefits after adoption. Definition of KnowledgeThe information, training and education necessary for people to know how to change. Knowledge & enablementWe’ve created awareness and
Is your team making the most out of TrendMiner? As roles shift, objectives evolve, and technology advances, relying on outdated insights can lead to missed opportunities. A simple yet effective way to stay ahead is by conducting a survey to assess how your organization is using TrendMiner and the value users are getting from it. Why Conduct a Survey?Unbiased and Anonymous Feedback – Some users may feel uncomfortable sharing opinions openly. A survey provides a safe space for honest insights. Identify Areas for Improvement – Understanding user experiences helps pinpoint challenges and opportunities for optimization. Collaborate with Your CSM – Discussing survey results with your Customer Success Manager can uncover ways to enhance adoption and maximize TrendMiner’s impact. Key Questions to Include in Your SurveyConsider adding the following questions to gather meaningful insights:Name (optional) How frequently do you use TrendMiner? (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Only when needed) How satisfi
We need your feedback to make sure our future direction fits the needs and preferences of our customers regarding deployment models, release process, security, and monitoring tooling.What to Expect?The survey covers current deployment models, release update strategies, and security/monitoring tooling. Some sections explore future possibilities like Kubernetes-based deployments, the usage of Cloud Services like EKS or AKS, and the potential evolution of the Virtual Appliance.Target audience:System Administrators & Technical StakeholdersThe survey is mostly multiple choice and should take approximately 10 minutes to complete.Thank you for your time and valuable input!Direct link: https://forms.office.com/e/cNsTs9BcLt
This tutorial will guide you through pulling ContextHub data into Power BI using Power Query. We'll cover the following steps:Setting up parameters to make the queries dynamic. Writing queries for API interaction. Explaining how to configure the entire setup step by step.In this example, we will use a context type filter and a time filter. However, other filters are also available and can be applied similarly. Step 1: Define ParametersTo make the queries dynamic, define the necessary parameters in Power Query Editor. Make sure to change the name to the given name, otherwise the script won’t work.How to Add ParametersOpen Power Query Editor. Go to the Manage Parameters section in the toolbar. Click New Parameter to define a parameter.Required Parameters:ServerURL Name: ServerURL Description: The base URL of your TrendMiner server. Type: Text Current Value: Enter your TrendMiner server URL (e.g., https://myserver.trendminer.com). Item Type List Name: itemTypeList Description: List o
Linearly extrapolating the current trend of a tag to estimate what its value is going to be at some point in the future is the probably the simplest form of predictive analytics, but it can be very effective in some cases.We can implement such a tag by taking the current value of the tag and adding the increase over the last x time. For example, if a tag currently has a value of 10, and the value 5 minutes ago was 8, then we would extrapolate that the value in 5 minutes will be 10 + (10-8) = 12. An obvious requirement is that the tag behaves somewhat linearly within the scope of our use case. Linear extrapolation will always be a simplification of your process. Of course, should you have a more custom formula can predict future values better you should implement that formula instead.After creating the predictive tag we will typically want to monitor on those future values to receive early warnings. Some use cases I have seen solved this way include:Monitor whether a tank will be empty
Hello! 👋The recording of our March 2025 webinar Mastering Tag Types in TrendMiner – Tips, Tricks & Hands-On Exercises is now available!🎥 Check it out to learn:How to create stepped formula tags Explore the power of string tags in formulas Learn how to work efficiently with time tagsRecordings:German EnglishAccess the Slides:German EnglishGot any questions? Write them in the comments below 😊Enjoy learning! 🚀
IntroductionDaily production is a key performance indicator (KPI) in continuous processes, helping process experts track efficiency and performance. However, in many cases, daily production is not readily available as a default variable in data historians. A recent question in the TrendMiner Community addressed this challenge: How to calculate a daily average of a signal with a single result per day?. This article explains four different approaches to calculating daily production in TrendMiner, depending on the user’s needs. 1️⃣ Continuous Rolling Last 24 Hours Production 📌 BackgroundThis method ensures that at any given time, the production of the last 24 hours is always available as a continuously updating value. This is particularly useful for real-time monitoring and trend analysis.🛠 Steps Load the relevant tag related to production. Set the context and focus chart to visualize the required time range. Create a new aggregation: Select the production signal. Use a back
One of the customers I work closely with, always starts meetings with a Safety Moment. It’s a brief discussion about a safety topic to create awareness and encourage safe practices at work. This simple habit stuck with me, and it got me thinking about how safety isn’t just important at work—it matters just as much at home too.Following a similar theme from my previous post in this Community, after meeting with this customer and hearing him talk about doing work around the house and keeping a fire extinguisher 🔥 handy, I couldn’t help but reflect on my own habits. It reminded me of that time when I was doing some cabinetry work and cutting wood with an electric saw 🔌 ✂, and I realized I hadn’t taken the necessary precautions, like wearing safety glasses or checking that my fire extinguisher was where I thought it would be.If you’re in a leadership role, you might be encouraged to promote safety among your team. One very simple practice you can start implementing is having a Safety M
Applying Transformations to Your Tag Data in TrendHub In process data analysis, relationships between variables are often assumed to be linear. However, real-world process relationships can be more complex and often are. For example, the relationship between pressure drop and flowrate is only linear under laminar flow conditions. In turbulent flow, which is more common in industrial processes, the relationship follows a quadratic function, as described by the Darcy-Weisbach equation.Because of these complexities, it is crucial to apply transformations to your data to properly analyze and interpret process relationships. TrendMiner's formula tag builder provides a way to achieve this.Example: Analyzing Pressure Drop Across a Flow PumpIn this example, we analyze the pressure drop across a pump using two tags: Flowmeter Tag (Q) - “TM-HEX-FI0620” Pressure Drop Tag (ΔP) - “TM-HEX-PDI0620” When plotting these tags on a scatterplot, we observe that the relationship is not linear. Instead, i
TrendMiner’s security features, such as mandatory SSL setup and NTP server configuration, ensure secure sessions. However, if there’s a time mismatch between your local machine and the TrendMiner server, it can lead to unexpected logouts. If you're logged out immediately after logging in, it is typically related to an issue with the SSL configuration.Troubleshooting Steps: Are you logged out immediately after logging in? Check SSL: Ensure SSL is enabled and the certificate is valid. An incorrect SSL setup can cause immediate logouts. Does it take at least a few seconds before you're logged out? Verify NTP Server Configuration: TrendMiner relies on an NTP server to synchronize time. If it’s not configured, time discrepancies may occur. An NTP server can be configured in Edge manager. Check Local Machine Time: Make sure your local machine’s time matches the NTP server. You can verify this by comparing it to public time sites like time.is. if the issue persists, please contact your Tr
📌 BackgroundIn any industrial process, there are typically periods of optimal (good) and sub-optimal (bad) performance. Identifying and comparing these periods helps in understanding the differences and optimizing operations. By analyzing the variations between good and bad periods, process engineers can uncover key factors affecting efficiency and quality. ⚠️ ChallengeOne of the main challenges in process optimization is recognizing the factors that differentiate a good period from a bad one. Some common difficulties include: 🔎 Identifying relevant time periods or batches in continuous and batch processes. 📊 Establishing objective quality metrics to categorize periods. 🔄 Effectively comparing periods visually and numerically to extract actionable insights. 🛠 SolutionTrendMiner provides a structured approach to compare good and bad process periods through the following steps:✅ 1. Feature Search Use the value-based search function to find operating periods or batches. For b
The TrendMiner server needs 2 volumes: a root volume (/root) and a data volume (/mnt/data). TrendMiner data (saved work, tag indexes) are all stored on the data volume. When your usage increases your data volume can run full and will need extension. On a single node deployment you can simply increase the volume in the console.On a virtual appliance deployment console access is not available and you need to add a second disk in your hypervisor. For TrendMiner to recognize the additional disk you need to click the ‘extend disk’ button which you can find in Edge Manager diagnostics. Important note: once a disk is extended it is not possible to claim back the disk space! More details and info on this disk extension procedure can also be found in our documentation: https://documentation.trendminer.com/en/disk-space-extension.html
Using TrendMiner’s Cross-Correlations Tool for Root Cause Analysis One of the most powerful features within TrendMiner is the cross-correlations tool. It is especially useful when conducting root cause analysis because it helps identify correlated tags that could serve as early indicators for your tag of interest. Identifying the Root Cause of a Process Disturbance Let’s look at an example of how to identify the root cause of a process disturbance.A process engineer monitoring a reactor unit notices an abnormal temperature spike in the reactor. The unit supervisor asks the engineer to determine what may have caused this increase. However, without immediate input from board operators and field operators, it can be difficult to know where to start. Reactor temperature fluctuations can result from many different factors, making troubleshooting a complex task.This is where TrendMiner can help.By using the cross-correlations tool, TrendMiner can quickly compute correlations between the reac
For rotating equipment, we need to seal off moving components with mechanical seals that use a barrier fluid. There is no way to seal off moving components perfectly so there will always be some leakage. If product leakage to the environment is unacceptable (typically for SHE reasons), a zero emission seal needs to be used. For zero emission seals, there can only be leakage from the barrier fluid into the product, which is why a barrier fluid that is under higher pressure than the pumped fluid needs to be used that is compatible with the product. After all, at least some of this barrier fluid will end up in the product. A classical example of this is the usage of N2 as a barrier fluid to natural gas.Mechanical seals are common but critical components, and they can be monitored quite easily in TrendMiner as the monitoring criteria are simply value-based. We can sometimes use a value-based search directly, but if we need to compare two measurement (e.g. to ensure a difference in pressure
Hello 🙂 I’m sure most of you have used popular AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and others. Based on personal experience using these chatbots, I’ve discovered a few key aspects to keep in mind when prompting them to generate a summary or refine an article. 🔎 Here are three important ones:Be precise when crafting your prompt. The clearer your request, the better the output. ☝ Define your audience. Specify who the article, email, or content is intended for. 🕵🏼 Set the desired complexity level. Indicate whether you want a simple explanation or a more sophisticated, in-depth response. My own experience 👇🏼Recently, while installing cabinetry, I turned to ChatGPT for advice since I'm far from a woodworking expert. After I described my project, it recommended the right screws for the job and even provided a clear step-by-step guide. We’d love to hear about the unique ways you’ve used different chatbots! Share in the comments below!
TrendMiner's monitoring functionality empowers users to create alerts for critical process behaviours. This enables engineers to receive immediate notifications of events that match specific parameters or deviate from expected patterns. (See real-world examples on how to be compliant with ISA 18.2 standards from Bayer and a helpful Tip&Trick to detect short duration events). Learn more about setting up monitors in our user guide.While TrendMiner's default setting allows for 10 active monitors per user, we understand that your needs may exceed this limit. To ensure you can fully leverage TrendMiner's capabilities, we offer the option to increase your active monitor capacity. ↗️By expanding your monitor limit, you can gain even greater control over your processes, proactively identify potential issues, and optimise your operations. Don't let limitations hold you back from maximising the value TrendMiner brings to your company‼️Contact your Customer Success Manager (CSM) or TrendMiner
TrendMiner delivers significant value across various operational areas, enabling organizations to achieve measurable ROI. By addressing key questions, sponsors and project managers can identify and quantify the impact of TrendMiner in their processes. Below are just a few critical areas where TrendMiner drives efficiency, quality, and cost savings.1. Process EfficiencyKey Question: How has TrendMiner reduced downtime or prevented unplanned shutdowns? Impact: Even a 1% improvement in process efficiency can result in substantial cost savings.2. Product QualityKey Question: Has TrendMiner helped reduce product variability or defects? Impact: Improved product consistency minimizes raw material waste and enhances process reliability.3. Energy ConsumptionKey Question: What is the most energy-intensive process in your operations? Impact: Optimizing energy usage reduces costs and supports sustainability goals.4. Accelerated Troubleshooting and Root Cause AnalysisKey Question: How has TrendMine
Hello 🖐🏻Identifying periods where parameter readings increase or decrease is crucial for process monitoring!🤔Why it matters? Changes often indicate potential issues or opportunities for optimization.✍How to analyze? Calculating the derivative of a tag allows for a more precise assessment of how sensitive a process is to fluctuations in specific parameters.📊 In TrendMiner : Different methods are available to determine the derivative based on the type of analysis needed. 👉🏻 Preparation: Smoothing Signals For noisy or highly fluctuating signals, it is recommended to perform an aggregation before calculating the derivative.This helps achieve a more accurate approximation of the derivative of the selected function.Recommended Aggregation:Tag: The tag for which the derivative should be calculated Operator: Average Direction: e.g., Backward Aggregation interval: e.g., 10 minutes 👉🏻 Option A: Calculating the Derivative Using a Formula The derivative can be determined by calculating
In this post, we will cover how to create a KPI tag using tag aggregation and how to track the KPI in real time within a TrendMiner dashboard. This example begins in TrendHub, where we create the aggregation tags, and then transitions to DashHub, where we use the current value tile to display the KPI in real time. Creating KPI Aggregation Tags in TrendHubIn TrendHub, we can create an aggregation tag from process tags. For example, if we want to calculate the 1-hour average of concentration, we can aggregate the concentration tag and select the average operator. This will be the first KPI to track. The second KPI is the maximum temperature from the past hour. Instead of the average operator, we need to select the maximum operator and apply it to the temperature tag. The screenshots below illustrate the parameter selection for creating these two aggregation tags in TrendHub.Creating the [CC]BA:CONC.1_hourly_avg tag: tag aggregation with average operator and backward 1 hour specification.
TrendMiner Home PageThe TrendMiner home page is more than just a starting point—it’s a powerful tool to drive user engagement and adoption.Next to recent items and favorites section, the help center provides access to useful resources that can help you to use TrendMiner effectively. Including links to user guides, FAQs, contact details for customer support, and other relevant assistance. It also shows upcoming trainings like the monthly basic guide and advanced level webinar.The admin message tile, often used for announcements like system updates or maintenance, can also be a creative space to boost adoption. Here’s how: 1. Link to Your Internal TrendMiner CommunityPromote collaboration by linking forums, knowledge bases, or shared platforms. A message like: "Join our Internal TrendMiner Community: Share insights, learn from peers, and discover innovative use cases!" ...can inspire active participation. 2. Highlight Rollout Leaders or Key ContactsShowcase rollout champions or TrendMine
The TrendMiner connector, also known as the Plant Integrations server, operates on Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Services). A common challenge with IIS is that its logs can grow rapidly, potentially consuming significant disk space if not managed proactively.IIS generates log files for each website hosted on the server. These logs are organized into folders named 'W3SVCX,' where X represents the unique ID of the website. For example, on a typical TrendMiner connector setup, you might find log files in directories such as:C:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles\W3SVC1 C:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles\W3SVC2As IIS log management is specific to Microsoft, TrendMiner recommends referring to Microsoft's official documentation for best practices on managing IIS logs effectively.To support troubleshooting efforts, it is advisable to retain the last 10 days of IIS log files. This ensures that any log data required by TrendMiner support is readily available while preventing excessive disk space usage.Proactivel
Hey everyone! 👋The recording of our January 2025 webinar Value Based Searches – Tips & Tricks is now available!🎥 Check it out to learn:The importance of a 2x index resolution as the minimum duration for searches 🔍 Tips to identify short peaks in your data more effectively 📊 How to search for events within specific durations ⏱️ Advanced techniques for combining AND/OR conditions to enhance your search results 💡Watch the Recording:German – Wertbasierte Suchen – Tipps & TricksEnglish – Value Based Searches – Tips & Tricks Access the Slides:GermanEnglish Got any questions or need further details? Write them in the comments below, we’re happy to help! 😊Enjoy exploring! 🚀
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