Configuring Alerts and Thresholds

This guide is for implementers configuring alert thresholds and monitoring in DRIMS. You should be comfortable with program configuration and monitoring setup, but you don't need to write Python or understand database internals.

What You'll Learn

• How DRIMS detects and alerts on inventory issues

• How to set global threshold defaults

• How to override thresholds per incident

• How to configure different alert types

Mental Model

DRIMS automatically monitors your disaster response operations and creates alerts when it detects problems. Think of alerts as an early warning system with four sensors:

Alert Type	What It Detects	Why It Matters
Low Stock	Inventory below 50% of pending requests	You may run out before fulfilling promises
SLA Warning	Requests approaching due date (2 days)	Time to expedite before breach
SLA Breach	Requests past due date, not delivered	Commitments missed, requires escalation
Expiry	Items approaching expiration (30 days)	Risk of waste or unsafe distribution

Alert States

Alerts flow through three states:

Active → Acknowledged → Resolved

• Active: New alert requiring attention (appears in dashboards)

• Acknowledged: Someone is handling it (removes from urgent list)

• Resolved: Issue fixed, alert closed (archived for reporting)

How Alerts Are Generated

DRIMS runs automated checks on a schedule. You don't need to configure these schedules—they run automatically:

Check	Frequency	What It Does
Low Stock	Every 4 hours	Compares available inventory to pending request quantities
SLA Compliance	Every 2 hours	Checks due dates for approved requests
Expiry Warning	Daily	Scans lot expiration dates in DRIMS warehouses
KPI Refresh	Every 15 minutes	Updates dashboard metrics

Note

The expiry check requires the Product Expiry module (product_expiry) to be installed. If you don't track expiration dates, this check won't run.

Setting Threshold Defaults

Global defaults apply to all incidents unless overridden. These control when alerts are created.

Accessing Global Settings

1. Go to Settings (top menu)

2. Scroll to DRIMS section

3. Configure default thresholds

Global Threshold Configuration

Setting	Default Value	What It Means
Low Stock Threshold	50%	Alert when available stock is below 50% of pending request quantity
SLA Warning Days	2 days	Alert when request due date is within 2 days
Expiry Warning Days	30 days	Alert when items expire within 30 days
Expiry Critical Days	7 days	Escalate to critical priority when items expire within 7 days

Important

Changes to global defaults only affect NEW alerts. Existing alerts retain the thresholds they were created with.

Incident-Level Overrides

Each hazard incident can override global thresholds. This lets you tune monitoring for different disaster types.

When to Override

Use incident-level overrides when:

• High-urgency incidents (earthquakes, floods) need tighter SLA monitoring (1 day instead of 2)

• Long-term responses (droughts, displacement) can tolerate longer expiry windows (60 days instead of 30)

• Perishable goods incidents (food relief) need stricter expiry alerts (14 days instead of 7)

Configuring Incident Overrides

1. Open the Hazard Incident record

2. Go to the Alert Configuration tab

3. Enable Override Global Thresholds

4. Set custom values

Field	Description	Example Use Case
SLA Warning Days	Days before due date to warn	Emergency: 1 day; Standard: 3 days
Expiry Warning Days	Days before expiration to warn	Perishables: 14 days; Durable goods: 60 days
Expiry Critical Days	Days before expiration for critical alert	Food: 3 days; Medical supplies: 7 days

Note

Low stock threshold (50%) cannot be overridden per incident. It's always calculated as 50% of the pending request quantity.

Configuring Each Alert Type

Low Stock Alerts

Trigger Condition:

Available Quantity < (Pending Request Quantity × 0.50)

Priority Assigned:

• High: Zero stock available

• Medium: Some stock but below 50% threshold

Configuration:

Low stock alerts are automatically calculated. The threshold is always 50% of pending quantities. You cannot configure this threshold, but you can adjust it by:

1. Ensuring request quantities are accurate

2. Marking unfillable requests as "Rejected" to remove them from calculations

3. Dispatching partial shipments to reduce pending quantities

Example Scenario:

Product	Pending Requests	Available Stock	Alert?
Rice 25kg	1000 bags	600 bags	No (60% > 50%)
Tents	200 units	80 units	Yes (40% < 50%) - Medium priority
Water bottles	5000 units	0 units	Yes (0%) - High priority

SLA Alerts

Two Alert Types:

1. SLA Warning - Request due within warning period (default: 2 days)

2. SLA Breach - Request past due date and not delivered

Priority for Warnings:

• High: Due today or tomorrow

• Medium: Due in 2 days

Priority for Breaches:

• Critical: More than 7 days overdue

• High: 3-7 days overdue

• Medium: 1-3 days overdue

Configuration:

Set warning threshold in Settings > DRIMS > SLA Warning Days or override per incident.

Example Timeline:

Request due date: January 15

January 13 (2 days before): SLA Warning created (Medium priority)
January 14 (1 day before): Priority escalates to High
January 16 (1 day overdue): SLA Breach created (Medium priority)
January 19 (4 days overdue): Priority escalates to High
January 23 (8 days overdue): Priority escalates to Critical

Expiry Alerts

Trigger Condition:

Items with lot expiration dates within the warning period (default: 30 days).

Priority Assigned:

• Critical: Expires within 7 days

• High: Expires within 14 days

• Medium: Expires within 30 days

Configuration:

Setting	Where to Configure	Default
Warning Days	Settings > DRIMS or Incident override	30 days
Critical Days	Settings > DRIMS or Incident override	7 days

Requirements:

1. Product Expiry module must be installed

2. Products must have Track By Lots enabled

3. Lots must have Expiration Date set

4. Stock must be in a DRIMS warehouse

Example Scenario:

Today is January 1. You have these lots:

Product	Lot	Expiry Date	Days Until	Alert Priority
Antibiotics	LOT-001	Jan 5	4 days	Critical
Rice	LOT-002	Jan 10	9 days	High
Blankets	LOT-003	Jan 25	24 days	Medium
Tents	LOT-004	Mar 1	59 days	No alert

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Emergency Response (High Urgency)

Scenario: Earthquake relief requiring rapid deployment.

Configuration:

Setting	Value	Rationale
SLA Warning Days	1 day	Tight deadlines, need immediate action
Expiry Warning Days	14 days	Focus on fresh food and medical supplies
Expiry Critical Days	3 days	Urgent redistribution or disposal

Result: Very tight monitoring, many alerts, high responsiveness.

Pattern 2: Displacement Camp (Long-Term)

Scenario: Ongoing support for displaced population over 6+ months.

Configuration:

Setting	Value	Rationale
SLA Warning Days	3 days	More flexibility in delivery scheduling
Expiry Warning Days	60 days	Durable goods, long shelf life
Expiry Critical Days	14 days	Still time to redistribute

Result: Fewer alerts, focus on planning not emergency response.

Pattern 3: Perishable Goods Distribution

Scenario: Food relief program with short shelf-life items.

Configuration:

Setting	Value	Rationale
SLA Warning Days	2 days	Standard delivery timeline
Expiry Warning Days	21 days	Start planning redistribution early
Expiry Critical Days	7 days	Week before expiry, urgent action needed

Result: Heavy focus on expiry alerts, moderate SLA monitoring.

Pattern 4: Standard Response (Balanced)

Scenario: General disaster response with mixed urgency.

Configuration:

Use global defaults (no overrides):

Setting	Value
SLA Warning Days	2 days
Expiry Warning Days	30 days
Expiry Critical Days	7 days

Result: Balanced monitoring suitable for most incidents.

Monitoring Alert Health

Warehouse Health Status

Warehouses automatically calculate health status based on active alerts:

Health Status	Condition	Dashboard Color
Critical	3+ active alerts OR capacity <10%	Red
Warning	1-2 active alerts OR capacity <30%	Orange
Good	No active alerts, adequate stock	Green

Alert Dashboard

View all active alerts in DRIMS > Operations > Alerts.

Filter by:

• Priority (Critical, High, Medium, Low)

• Type (Low Stock, SLA Breach, SLA Warning, Expiry)

• State (Active, Acknowledged, Resolved)

• Warehouse

• Incident

Responding to Alerts

Acknowledging Alerts

When you start investigating an alert:

1. Open the alert record

2. Click Acknowledge

3. Add notes about your action plan

This removes the alert from "urgent" views but keeps it tracked.

Resolving Alerts

When the underlying issue is fixed:

1. Open the alert record

2. Verify the issue is resolved (check stock levels, confirm delivery, etc.)

3. Click Resolve

4. Add notes about the resolution

Resolved alerts are archived but remain in reporting for analysis.

Alert Activity Feed

All DRIMS alerts are logged in DRIMS > Activity Feed. Use this to:

• Track who acknowledged/resolved alerts

• Analyze response times

• Generate compliance reports

Are You Stuck?

Alerts Not Being Created

Problem: Expected an alert but none appeared.

Check:

1. Alert already exists - DRIMS won't create duplicates. Search for existing alert for same product/warehouse/incident.

2. Request state - Only "Approved" and "Pending" requests trigger low stock alerts. Check request is not in "Draft" or "Rejected" state.

3. Expiry module - For expiry alerts, verify product_expiry module is installed. Go to Apps and search for "Product Expiry".

4. Lot configuration - For expiry alerts, product must have "Tracking: By Unique Serial Number" or "By Lots" enabled.

5. Wait for cron - Manual changes won't trigger immediate alerts. Wait for next scheduled check or manually run the cron (Admin only).

Wrong Priority Assigned

Problem: Alert priority doesn't match expectations.

Explanation:

Priority is calculated automatically based on thresholds:

• Low Stock: Zero stock = High, Some stock = Medium

• SLA Breach: Days overdue determines priority

• Expiry: Days until expiration determines priority

You cannot manually change priority. To get different priority:

1. Adjust global thresholds in Settings

2. Override thresholds on the incident

3. Wait for next cron cycle to recreate alert with new priority

Too Many Alerts

Problem: Alert dashboard is overwhelming.

Solutions:

1. Tighten request management - Reject unfillable requests so they don't trigger low stock alerts

2. Adjust thresholds - Increase SLA warning days or expiry warning days for less urgent incidents

3. Resolve stale alerts - Clean up alerts for issues that were fixed but not marked resolved

4. Filter dashboards - Use priority filters to focus on Critical and High alerts only

Alert Created But Condition Resolved

Problem: Alert still shows as active even though stock was replenished or item delivered.

Explanation:

Alerts are not automatically resolved. The cron jobs only create new alerts, they don't close existing ones.

Solution:

Manually resolve the alert:

1. Go to DRIMS > Operations > Alerts

2. Find the alert

3. Click Resolve

4. Add note: "Stock replenished" or "Request delivered"

Can't Find Alert Settings on Incident

Problem: No "Alert Configuration" tab on incident record.

Check:

1. DRIMS module version - Alert overrides were added in DRIMS v2. Verify you're running latest version.

2. Form view - Make sure you're in "Edit" mode, not just viewing the record.

3. Permissions - You need "DRIMS Manager" or "Administrator" role to see configuration tabs.

Expiry Alerts for Non-Perishable Items

Problem: Getting expiry alerts for items that don't expire (tents, blankets).

Solutions:

1. Disable lot tracking - If product genuinely doesn't expire, remove "Track by Lots" from product configuration

2. Remove expiration dates - Edit lots and clear expiration date field

3. Increase warning threshold - Set expiry warning to very high value (e.g., 365 days) for durable goods

Warning

Don't disable lot tracking if you need it for traceability or donation tracking. Instead, just don't set expiration dates on those lots.

Next Steps

• Monitor daily - Check alert dashboard each morning to catch issues early

• Analyze patterns - Use Activity Feed to identify recurring problems

• Tune thresholds - Adjust settings based on your team's response capacity

• Train staff - Ensure warehouse managers know how to acknowledge and resolve alerts

For details on warehouse management, see Configuring Warehouses.

For request processing workflows, see Submit a Relief Request.