Asset Prototypes

What is an Asset Prototype?

An Asset Prototype is a template for a specific asset type.

Think of it as a blueprint for how assets of a certain type should be created in Factry Historian, complete with a predefined list of Asset Properties, Events and Asset Metadata.

Why does it matter?

When you have numerous physical assets, perhaps across multiple sites, creating and managing the digital models of these assets can be cumbersome and prone to errors and inconsistencies. Asset prototypes allow you to standardize this in Factry Historian and enforce a consistent model for an asset throughout your organization.

With asset prototypes:

You standardize the properties, events and metadata list, and the naming convention.

You can easily create new assets of an existing prototype without having to create and configure all the properties and metadata separately.

You can make changes once to a prototype and roll out that change to all assets that are linked to the prototype.

How does it fit in the system?

Asset prototypes serve as reusable templates for asset creation. Each prototype defines:

A predefined set of Asset Properties (e.g., flow rate, temperature, level)

A predefined set of Events (e.g. batches, CIP cycles)

Standardized Asset Metadata (e.g., equipment type, vendor, serial number)

When a new asset is created from a prototype, it automatically inherits these definitions. The newly created asset can then be placed anywhere in the asset tree where it belongs, while still maintaining a consistent definition across the system.

This ensures that dashboards, reports, and queries can operate on uniform data structures regardless of which site or line the asset is from.

Example

Let’s say you have multiple mixers in your production lines across different factories. Instead of defining their properties one by one, you create a Mixer Prototype with:

Asset Properties:

motor_speed (rpm)

mixer_level (L)

mixer_temperature (°C)

batch_id (string)

Events:

batch (batchID, energy use, and temperature profile during the batch)

Metadata:

vendor: ACME Corp

model: MXR-7331

Now, when you add a new mixer to the asset tree, it comes preloaded with the correct properties, events and metadata. If you later decide to also track power consumption, you add that property once to the mixer prototype, and all mixers across all sites automatically get the update.

When you use it

You’ll interact with asset prototypes when:

You want to maintain a standard asset type library

You want to more quickly onboard new assets/equipment

You want to update definitions across many assets in one go

Common misconceptions

An asset prototype is not an asset itself. It’s only a template.

Prototypes do not prevent customization: you can still make changes to the individual assets, though these changes will not propagate to the prototype or to other assets of the same type.

Best practices

Start with the most common and highly standardized asset types (mixers, tanks, pumps).

Keep prototypes simple and relevant. Don’t overload them with unused properties.

If you have similar assets which have a slightly different calculated asset property, try to standardize your calculations using Asset Metadata as variables. That way you can use a single asset prototype to manage all of them.

More information

Creating an asset prototypeCreating an asset prototype

Adding event prototypesAdding event prototypes

Using metadata to reuse calculationsUsing metadata to reuse calculations