> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.tricloudnexus.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.tricloudnexus.io/management-portal/oee/availability-categories.md). # Availability Categories Global, color-coded labels used by States Mapping and Planned Stops to classify time as productive, planned downtime, or unplanned stop. An **Availability Category** is a labelled, color-coded bucket that classifies time. Categories are managed under **OEE → Availability** and are **global** — every Site, every Equipment, every State Mapping and every Planned Stop chooses from the same list.

Availability Categories — global list showing Name, Category Type, and Description for each category; default categories are marked with a "Default" badge

| Used by | Where | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [States Mapping](/management-portal/oee/equipment/states-mapping.md) | Maps a raw equipment-state value (`Running`, `Stopped`, `Idle`, …) to a category. | | [Planned Stops](/management-portal/oee/equipment/planned-stops.md) | Tags every recurring planned stop with a `PlannedStop`-typed category. | | [Stop Causes](/management-portal/oee/equipment/stop-causes-and-error-codes.md) | Classifies each stop reason as Planned, Unplanned, etc. | *** ## The Availability Categories page The page is a single grid with the standard Add / Edit / Delete / Refresh toolbar. Add / Edit / Delete are only visible to users in the **Contributor** or **Administrator** role; all authenticated users can view the list. | Column | Notes | | ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Color** | The color used to mark the category wherever it appears (state grids, scheduler, dashboards). | | **Name** | Display name; must be unique globally (case-insensitive). | | **Category Type** | One of the four built-in types — see below. | | **Description** | Free-text. | *** ## Category Types Every category has exactly one **type**, which controls how the category contributes to the OEE calculation: | Type | Meaning | Effect on Availability | | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Running** | Equipment is producing units. | Counts as productive time. Increases Availability. | | **Idle** | Scheduled time when the equipment *should* be producing but isn’t — typical examples: no orders queued, operator pressed stop, line starvation, blocked downstream. | Counts against **Performance**, not Availability. The equipment was scheduled to run and didn’t, so the gap shows up as a speed loss in the score, not as downtime. | | **Planned Stop** | Known, scheduled downtime — changeovers, sanitation, maintenance, breaks. | Excluded from scheduled time entirely; does not count against Availability. | | **Unplanned Stop** | Faults, breakdowns, jams. | Counts as scheduled time but not productive — Availability loss. | You can create as many categories of each type as you like — for example, two `Unplanned Stop` categories called `Mechanical Fault` and `Electrical Fault` to color-code different failure modes on dashboards. The score effect is determined by the **type**; the **name** is purely for reporting and color-coding. {% hint style="info" %} Pre-seeded default categories (one per type) are created when OEE is first enabled. You can rename and recolor them, but they can't be deleted — so every State Mapping and Planned Stop always has at least one category of each type to choose from. {% endhint %} *** ## Add a category 1. Choose **Add** in the toolbar. 2. Fill in the dialog:

Edit Availability Category dialog — Name, Description, Category Type, and Color picker

| Field | Required | Notes | | ----------------- | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Name** | Yes | Unique globally (case-insensitive). The dialog enforces this — you’ll see "An availability category with this name already exists" if you try to reuse a name. | | **Description** | No | Free-text. | | **Category Type** | Yes | One of Running / Idle / Planned Stop / Unplanned Stop. | | **Color** | Yes | Pick from the basic palette or open the gradient picker for a custom hex value. New categories default to a green (`#22b14c`); change it to something distinct so the category is recognizable in the scheduler. | 3. Choose **Save**. *** ## Edit a category Select the row and choose **Edit**, or double-click. The same dialog opens pre-populated. * Renaming, recoloring, or changing the description is safe — references update everywhere. * Changing the **Category Type** is allowed, but do it deliberately — the type controls how time in this category counts toward the OEE score. Time already recorded keeps its original classification; only data collected after the change uses the new type. *** ## Delete a category Select the row and choose **Delete**. The platform does not allow deleting a category that is currently referenced by a State Mapping or a Planned Stop — re-target those references at a different category first. *** ## Recommended starter set For a typical packaging or processing line, the following baseline covers most situations: | Type | Name | Color | | -------------- | ---------------- | ----- | | Running | `Running` | green | | Unplanned Stop | `Unplanned Stop` | red | | Planned Stop | `Planned Stop` | blue | | Idle | `Idle` | grey | Add per-failure-mode categories (`Material Jam`, `Mechanical Fault`, `Electrical Fault`, `Sensor Fault`, …) only when you actually plan to color-code them on dashboards. Too many categories quickly become noise.