# 01 Introduction

Grafana is an open-source platform for visualizing and analyzing data. With ENLYZE and Grafana, you create custom dashboards that display your production data in real time:

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## What you will learn

* What Grafana is and why it is useful for manufacturing
* The difference between the two available data sources
* How to navigate the Grafana interface

## Prerequisites

* Access to your ENLYZE Grafana instance
* A web browser (Chrome, Firefox, or Edge recommended)

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## Why Grafana in manufacturing?

| Benefit                  | Description                                              |
| ------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Real-time monitoring** | See what is happening on your production lines right now |
| **Custom dashboards**    | Build exactly the views you need                         |
| **Historical analysis**  | Look back at past data to identify trends                |
| **Alerting**             | Get notified when something needs attention              |

Typical use cases: shopfloor displays, shift handover dashboards, management KPI reports, maintenance monitoring, and quality control.

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## ENLYZE and Grafana

ENLYZE provides a hosted Grafana instance that is already connected to your production data. The data flow: ENLYZE Edge Devices collect machine data, the ENLYZE platform stores and processes it, and Grafana visualizes it in dashboards.

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## Two ways to access your data

### The ENLYZE data source (simple)

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Point-and-click interface: select site, machine, and variables. Ideal for getting started and simple time series visualizations.

**Limitations:** No alerting, limited data transformations, no dashboard variables.

### The ENLYZE API data source (advanced)

<figure><img src="https://4261006941-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FSNEuiyRRKwuqtIcaEt45%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-64491dddb6ed4fdb207a11afe97c75765463bc34%2Fgrafana-start-infinity-query-editor-01.png?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Connects directly to the ENLYZE API (Infinity Plugin). Enables OEE dashboards, dropdown filters, alerting, and complex transformations. Requires an understanding of API concepts and JSONPath.

### Which data source to use?

| If you want to...                          | Data source    |
| ------------------------------------------ | -------------- |
| Quickly create a simple dashboard          | **ENLYZE**     |
| Build OEE/productivity dashboards          | **ENLYZE API** |
| Add dropdown filters for machine selection | **ENLYZE API** |
| Set up alerting                            | **ENLYZE API** |

Recommendation: start with the ENLYZE data source. Switch to the ENLYZE API when you need the advanced features.

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## Navigating Grafana

### The home screen

<figure><img src="https://4261006941-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FSNEuiyRRKwuqtIcaEt45%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-59925ca232ae98a2fa9970ab043de0632a316dc1%2Fgrafana-start-home-annotated-01.png?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

1. **Search bar** - Find dashboards by name
2. **Starred dashboards** - Quick access to your favorites
3. **Recent dashboards** - Dashboards you viewed recently
4. **Navigation menu** - Access all Grafana features (left sidebar)

The side menu provides quick access to dashboards, Explore, Alerting, and settings.

### Inside a dashboard

<figure><img src="https://4261006941-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FSNEuiyRRKwuqtIcaEt45%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-27a9599c4ce32295e0633e2defd7b552b17e2e40%2Fgrafana-start-new-dashboard-annotated-01.png?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

1. **Time range selector** - Choose the time period to display (e.g. Last 1 hour, Last 24 hours)
2. **Refresh button** - Update data manually or set auto-refresh
3. **Dashboard settings** (gear icon) - Configure options
4. **Panels** - Individual visualizations (charts, tables, gauges)

{% hint style="info" %}
For live monitoring, use a short time range like "Last 1 hour" with auto-refresh enabled.
{% endhint %}

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## Key terms

| Term            | Definition                                                         |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Dashboard**   | A collection of panels that display related information            |
| **Panel**       | A single visualization (chart, table, stat)                        |
| **Query**       | The instruction that tells Grafana what data to fetch              |
| **Data source** | The connection to where your data is stored (ENLYZE or ENLYZE API) |
| **Time range**  | The period of time shown in your visualizations                    |

{% hint style="info" %}
In addition to the ENLYZE data sources, you can also connect other data sources in Grafana, for example CSV files via the Infinity Plugin. A full list of supported data sources is available in the [Grafana documentation](https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/latest/datasources/).
{% endhint %}

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## Next steps

* [**Your first dashboard**](https://docs.enlyze.com/en/integrations/grafana/getting-started/02-first-dashboard) - Create a dashboard, add panels, and save it