---
title: "Detect operations automatically"
description: "Auto-detection is the setting that tells a machine which operations to watch for, so counts reach the right part without anyone touching the dashboard at a changeover. Every entry point is on the machine, not the Parts List: the Auto-Detect button on a machine's detail page, and the operation block on an Assets list row. A SenseAi shows Discrete and Continuous tabs, a BeamTracker shows Count. Discrete takes checkboxes and submits with Auto-Detect; Continuous and Count take one operation and save the moment you pick. An operation with no detection algorithm never appears in the list. Once the machine runs, its Assets row reports the measured cycle time and production rate."
category: "Set up parts and operations"
source_url: "https://www.iotflows.com/docs/production/auto-detect-operations/"
---
# Detect operations automatically

Let a machine work out which operation it is running, instead of telling it at every changeover.

*Auto-detection* is the setting that lists the operations a machine should watch for. IoTFlows matches the sensor's signal against that list and files each cycle it recognizes under one of the operations on it. A machine with nothing assigned still reports uptime and downtime, and its parts column stays empty.

Every entry point into auto-detection is on the machine. This page covers all of them, plus the one shortcut that sets a whole line in a single action.

**Before you start**

- A part with at least one operation, and a detection algorithm on that operation. See [Create parts and operations](/docs/production/parts-and-operations/).
- The machine has to run the operation while it is assigned. Nothing is detected from an idle machine.

> **Note:**
> **Looking for this on the Parts List?** It is not there. The Parts List defines what an operation *is*: its algorithm, its ideal cycle time, its quantity per cycle. Assigning an operation to the machine that runs it happens on the machine, through the modal below.

## When auto-detection helps
Assign operations when:

- The machine runs parts you can name in advance. Assign every discrete operation it runs, in one pass, and leave them assigned.
- Counts have to survive a changeover with nobody at a keyboard.
- You entered an ideal cycle time you are not confident in, and want a measured figure to check it against.

**You do not need auto-detection to see whether a machine is running.** Uptime, downtime and OEE come from the sensor alone, see [How each metric is calculated](/docs/monitoring/metrics-reference/). Auto-detection is what turns that running signal into a part count, a production rate, and a shift goal.

## Start from a machine's detail page
This is the path the rest of the production docs use, and the one to take when you are setting up a single machine.

1. Open **Assets** and select the machine, for example `HAAS VF-2`. The address is `/assets/selected-asset/:id`.
2. Select **Auto-Detect** in the control bar. **Select Auto-Detect Operations** opens.

On a phone the same control is an icon in the page header rather than a labeled button. Both open the same modal.

![The Assets / HAAS VF-2 breadcrumb above the control bar of the machine's detail page, with a violet highlight around the blue Auto-Detect button at the bar's right end, beside the notifications bell and the actions menu, and the shift filter at its left end](/images/production/prod-auto-01.webp)

*The Auto-Detect button in the control bar of a machine's detail page, which opens Select Auto-Detect Operations.*

## Start from the Assets page
The Assets page opens the same modal without leaving the fleet view, which is the faster path when you are setting several machines in a row.

1. Open **Assets** at `/assets` and switch to list view.
2. Find the machine's row. The block in the middle names the operation it is detecting now, its part, and its count.
3. Select that block. Its tooltip reads **Switch operation**.

A machine with nothing assigned carries a **Set operation** button in the same place. Cascading group cards carry the block as well, so a line drawn as a cascade can be switched machine by machine from the card. Plain cards outside a cascade have no entry point, so use list view or the machine's detail page.

![One row of the Assets list view for HAAS VF-2, with a violet highlight around the operation block in the middle of the row. The one clickable block holds the part photo, the operation name OP10, the part name BH-4021, Count 10, a refresh icon, and on its right-hand side a cycle time of 00:04:30 and a production rate of 0.2 ops/min](/images/production/prod-auto-02.webp)

*The second entry point: the operation block on an Assets list row, whose tooltip reads Switch operation.*

## Choose the part and operations
The modal lists every operation in the organization that the machine's device can detect, each row naming the operation and the part it belongs to. The device decides the tabs:

- A **SenseAi** or **SenseAi Embedded** shows **Discrete** and **Continuous**.
- A **BeamTracker** shows **Count** and nothing else.

To find an operation in a long list, type into the search box at the top. It searches part name, operation name and description, and the server does the filtering, so an operation you have not searched for may not be in the list.

**On the Discrete tab, check every operation the machine runs, then select Auto-Detect.** The tab takes checkboxes, so one pass covers every part on the machine. IoTFlows confirms with **Discrete Auto-classification Set** and closes the modal.

**On the Continuous and Count tabs, select one operation.** Both are radio buttons. They save the moment you select, confirm with **Continuous Auto-Classification Set** or **Count Auto-Classification Set**, and close. Neither has a submit button, only **Close**.

To stop a continuous machine detecting without choosing another operation, select **No Continuous Detection** at the top of the list. The **Count** tab carries no equivalent row.

The two tabs are exclusive, and each says so above its list. Selecting discrete operations clears the machine's continuous operation, and selecting a continuous operation clears every discrete one.

![The Select Auto-Detect Operations modal on the Discrete tab, with BH-4021 typed into the search box above and an amber line warning that selecting Discrete operations disables any Continuous operation. The search has narrowed the list to that part's two operations, and both checkbox rows are checked, OP10 - Rough mill and OP20 - Finish, marked with callouts 1 and 2. Add/Edit Parts sits in the header and Close and Auto-Detect in the footer](/images/production/prod-auto-03.webp)

*Choosing which part and operations to detect. The Discrete tab takes checkboxes, so one pass assigns every operation the machine runs.*

## Choose the detection algorithm
The algorithm is a field on the operation, not on the machine, and it decides which tab the operation appears under: the two discrete algorithms put it on **Discrete**, Continuous Analysis on **Continuous**, and Counter on **Count**. Which one to pick is on [Choose a production tracking algorithm](/docs/production/choose-an-algorithm/#choose).

**An operation with no algorithm never appears in this modal.** The modal states it outright: "Operations without a detection algorithm will not appear in the auto-detect selection list." So does the device mismatch. A SenseAi will not show a Counter operation, and a BeamTracker will not show a discrete or continuous one.

If the operation you want is missing, fix it without leaving the modal:

1. Select **Add/Edit Parts** in the header. The modal becomes **Add/Edit Parts & Operations**.
2. Search for the part, or type a new name and select **Create "*name*"**.
3. Select the part, type a name under **New Operation**, then select **Add**.
4. Expand **More details (optional)** and set **Detection Algorithm**. Set **Qty per Cycle** and **Cycle Time (sec)** here too if you know them. Unlike the Parts List, cycle time here is one plain number in seconds.
5. Select **Done — Back to Operations**. The list reloads and the new operation is in it.

Use the pencil beside an existing operation to change the same three fields on it.

## Review the detected cycle time
Let the machine run the operation, then open its row on the Assets page. Beside the operation block it reports two figures:

- **Cycle time**, the *detected cycle time*: the running time between counted parts, measured from the detection events themselves.
- **Production rate**, the same number inverted, in the operation's unit per minute.

Neither is the number you typed. The ideal cycle time on the operation is a target, and this is what the machine actually did. Comparing the two is the quickest check that the algorithm and the assignment are both right.

For example, a machining center set to a 90 second ideal that reports a detected 92 seconds is working. One that reports 8 seconds is counting something that is not a part.

**Read the detected figure only over a window that ran one part mix.** If the machine changed over inside the window, the detector averages two parts into a single number that describes neither, and the fix is a stopwatch on the part you care about, not a different setting.

![The right half of an Assets list row, showing a shift count of 10 made, then the operation OP10 on part BH-4021 with Count 10, and beside it two stacked figures: 00:04:30 labeled Cycle time, and 0.2 ops/min labeled Production rate, with a violet arrow pointing up at the cycle time](/images/production/prod-auto-04.webp)

*The measured cycle time and production rate on an Assets list row, after the machine has run the operation. An implausible figure means the machine ran something else during the window.*

## Accept or adjust
Nothing has to be accepted. The assignment is already live and the detected cycle time is a reading, not a proposal. What you do next depends on what the reading says.

| What the detected cycle time says | What it means | What to change |
|---|---|---|
| Close to the ideal cycle time you entered | The algorithm and the assignment are both right | Nothing |
| Roughly half or double the ideal | The signal is being merged or split wrongly | Switch the operation's algorithm, see [Switch to a different algorithm](/docs/production/choose-an-algorithm/#switch) |
| Plausible, but the ideal is a long way off | The ideal cycle time was a guess | Re-time the cycle and correct it, see [Set cycle times and downtime filters](/docs/production/cycle-times-and-filters/) |
| Nothing at all, after the machine has run | No operation is assigned, or the wrong one is | Reopen the modal and check the selection |
| Implausible on every reading | The machine is running something other than the assigned operation | Assign the operations it actually runs, or cut the window to one part |

Counts that are still wrong after that are on [Troubleshoot inaccurate part counts](/docs/production/troubleshoot-part-counts/).

## Set a whole cascade in one action
Machines grouped into a cascade get a group-level shortcut. **Set Part** in the group header picks one part, pre-fills each machine with the part's operation matching its step number, and applies the lot in one request per machine. It writes exactly the same setting as **Switch operation** on a single card.

The procedure, its **Don't change** option, and what a half-successful run looks like are on [Group machines into cascades](/docs/monitoring/asset-groups/#cascade-part). The shortcut is the only part of auto-detection that is role gated: **Set Part** is disabled unless you sign in as an Organization Owner or Organization Administrator, see [Roles reference](/docs/admin/roles-reference/).

## Auto-detect fields
| Field | Required | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Search | No | Filters the list by part name, operation name or description. The server filters, so an operation you have not searched for may not be listed |
| **Discrete** checkboxes | On a SenseAi running discrete operations | Check every operation the machine runs. Nothing is saved until you select **Auto-Detect** |
| **Continuous** radio | On a SenseAi running a continuous operation | Saves the moment you select it, then closes the modal |
| **No Continuous Detection** | No | The first row of the **Continuous** tab. Clears the machine's continuous operation and leaves it detecting nothing |
| **Count** radio | On a BeamTracker | The only tab a BeamTracker shows. Saves on selection, like **Continuous** |
| **Auto-Detect** | On the **Discrete** tab | Submits the whole checked set as the machine's operations. The other two tabs have no submit button |
| **Add/Edit Parts** | No | Opens **Add/Edit Parts & Operations** inside the same modal, for creating or correcting the operation you are missing |

## See also
- [Set cycle times and downtime filters](/docs/production/cycle-times-and-filters/)
- [Choose a production tracking algorithm](/docs/production/choose-an-algorithm/)
- [Group machines into cascades](/docs/monitoring/asset-groups/#cascade-part)
- [Troubleshoot inaccurate part counts](/docs/production/troubleshoot-part-counts/)
- [Create parts and operations](/docs/production/parts-and-operations/)