About Successors and Predecessors

Before creating a relationship definition, you must first decide which two families will participate in the relationship. Then, you must decide which family will be the predecessor and which will be the successor in the relationship.

In many cases, the predecessor is the single part of the relationship equation and the successor is the multiple part. For example, if the relationship is Has Failure, and you determine that a piece of equipment, such as a pump, has a failure, then the pump experiencing the failure is the predecessor because there is one pump, whereas the failure is the successor because a pump might have many failures.

Another way to look at predecessors and successors is to consider that the predecessor comes before the successor. For example, using this guideline, a piece of equipment could be the predecessor and a repair could be the successor because the equipment was in place before it was repaired.

Note: These are guidelines. GE Digital APM will allow any type of setup that you feel best suits your needs.