Real-Time Alerts

Responding quickly to out-of-spec or trending process data is critical in any quality assurance program. GS supports real-time, automated email and SMS Alerts during Inspections, allowing users to take immediate corrective action.

In this guide, you will create a Real-Time Failure Group, assign it to a Characteristic, and configure an Inspection to display and send Alerts. It assumes that a Characteristic with specification limits already exists.

Setup

Create a Real-Time Failure Group

Create a Real-Time Failure Group to track out-of-spec and trend failures:

1. Navigate to the list of Real-Time Failure Groups.
   1. Ensure that SPC is selected in the top-right dropdown.
2. Click Add.
3. Name the Group Specs and Trends.
4. Select the following failures:
   1. 7 X-Bar In A Row Increasing
   2. 7 X-Bar In A Row Decreasing
   3. X Above Spec
   4. X Below Spec
5. Click Save.

Assign the Group to a Characteristic

Next, link the Real-Time Failure Group to a Characteristic so failures are detected during Inspections:

1. Navigate to the list of Characteristics.
2. Edit a Characteristic that includes either an Upper or Lower Spec limit.
3. In the Characteristic's Real-Time Failure Groups setting, select Specs and Trends.
4. Click Save.

Tip

You can also create a new Real-Time Failure Group directly from the Characteristic page by clicking Add.

Create an Alert

Alerts define the notifications that will be sent when a failure occurs. Create an Alert that sends an email and a text message:

1. Navigate to the list of Alerts.
2. Click Add.
3. Name the Alert Alert Myself.
4. Under the Email section, find yourself in the list of Users and click Add.
   1. If you do not have an email address in GS, add your email in the list of Additional Emails.

5. Fill in the following Email Template. See the reference for an explanation of Alert expressions.

   An alert occurred!
   Characteristic: {{ char.name }}
   Values: {{ values }}
   Failures: {{ failures }}
   

6. Under the Text Message section, find yourself in the list of Users and click Add.

   1. If you do not have a phone number in GS, add your phone number in the list of Additional Phone Numbers.

7. Fill in the following Text Message Template:

   Alert!
   Characteristic: {{ char.name }}
   Log into https://gs.hertzler.com to see more
   

8. Click Save to save the Alert.

Inspection Setup

After creating an Alert and configuring the Characteristic, set up an Inspection to trigger the Alert:

1. Navigate to the Inspection list.
2. Press the Add button.
3. Fill in the Name field with Inspection with Alerts.
4. Press the Save button.
5. Add an SPC Test
   1. Edit the Test's Characteristic property and select the Characteristic configured above.
   2. Edit the Test's Alert property and select Alert Myself.
6. Select the Save and Run action.

Run the Inspection

Run the Inspection:

1. Run the Sub-Inspection that contains the SPC Test.
2. Enter a value within the spec limits and press Tab.
   1. The Test's background will turn green, showing that no failures occurred.
3. Click Submit.
4. Run the Sub-Inspection again and enter a value outside the spec limits.
   1. This time the background color of the Test will turn red, showing that an out-of-spec point was detected.
5. Click Submit again. After a few seconds, you should receive an Alert via email and a text message.
6. To test trend-based Alerts, run the Sub-Inspection 6 more times with consistently decreasing values. On the last submission, you should receive an Alert for 7 X-Bar In A Row Decreasing.

Including Charts

To include visual context in Alert emails, GS allows linked Chart Tests to be embedded.

First, modify the Alert:

1. Edit the previously created Alert.
2. Set Include Linked Charts to Yes.
3. Save the Alert.

Then, update the Inspection to include a Chart Test:

1. Edit the Inspection.
2. Add a Chart Test.
   1. In the Linked Tests property, select the SPC Test.
3. Select the Save and Run action.

Now, when you submit an out-of-spec value, you should receive an email with an image of the linked chart:

See Also

• Alerts
• Real-Time Failures