Playbook: a rule everyone knows and nobody checks

The situation

Every company has rules that live in people's heads: *don't start a build until its materials are there*, *a PO marked received must have a goods receipt*, *don't ship before the build is finished*. Nobody checks them, so they are broken quietly, and the first sign is a stopped line or a customer complaint.

Otiox turns those rules into checks that run on every record, and lets you tighten each one step by step: first just report, then warn on the record, then refuse the step.

Before you start

• Rules report; they never undo something already done. A rule in block mode refuses the next step unless an exception is approved.
• Built-in rules are always enforced by the system and cannot be switched off.

Step 1 — See the rules and who breaks them

Open Command → Rules & Invariants.

What you see at the top: in the demo 16 rules on, 0 set to refuse a step, 22 records breaking a rule right now, 1 exception waiting. The filter shows how many rules are in each mode: Block 0, Warn 6, Monitor 10.

Each rule has its mode, severity, the record type it applies to, a seven-day trend, and today's breaches:

• *Receipt behind every “received”* (Warn, High, purchase order): 7 records: purchase orders marked received with no goods receipt.
• *Shipment behind every “shipped”* (Monitor, Warning, customer order): 6 records.
• *Machine available before start* (Warn): 2 records: work planned on a machine that is down.
• *Materials covered before start* (Warn, High): 1 record: a build starting within seven days without its materials.

Modes: *Monitor* lists breaches here only. *Warn* also shows them on the record itself. *Block* refuses the step unless an exception is approved.

Step 2 — Tighten step by step

Start a new rule in Monitor for a week or two and read the breaches. When they are real and few, move it to Warn so the people doing the work see it on the record. Move it to Block only when the process can actually follow it.

Step 3 — Exceptions are requested, not taken

Choose Exceptions.

What you see: each exception request with the rule, the record type, the reason and its state. In the demo one is pending on *Shipment behind every “shipped”* for a customer order. The requester can withdraw it; an approver accepts or declines it.

Step 4 — Every change to a rule is kept

Choose Change history.

What you see: each version of each rule, when it changed and who changed it, the mode before and after (for example *Block → Monitor*) and the reason. When a breach was allowed last month, this shows whether the rule was even on at the time.

Why it matters

A rule nobody checks is a wish. Otiox checks every record against it, shows who breaks it today, and records every exception and every change, so you know both what the rule is and what it was.

What you have at the end

• Every unwritten rule written down and checked on every record.
• Breaches visible today, on the list and on the record.
• Exceptions with reasons and approvals, and a full history of each rule.

Screenshots come from the Otiox demo workspace. Choose Switch to demo in the sidebar to follow along; changes there never touch live data.