In Serenity, your company’s structure is represented using a flexible and scalable system called the organizational hierarchy. This hierarchy connects everything from high-level business units to shop-floor equipment — all through a system of records we call entities.
What is an "Entity"?
We know the word "entity" can feel a bit abstract. But in practice, it just means a piece of your organization — like a site, department, machine, or process.
Every part of your business that you want to assign work to, report on, or track compliance for is considered an entity in the system.
Common Example Hierarchy
To make this feel more real, here’s how many organizations build out their hierarchy in Serenity:
Organization (Acme, Inc.)
└── Org Unit (Manufacturing)
└── Child Org Unit (Vehicle Assembly)
└── Establishment (Plant A)
└── Zone (Paint Department / Shop)
└── Child zone (Body Panel Paint)
└── Process (Final Clear Coat Application)
└── Asset (Robotic Paint Sprayer)You can go as high-level or as detailed as your operations require. Some organizations stop at Establishment, while others go all the way to Assets and Processes.
🔽 Top-Down Approach (Recommended for New Orgs)
If you’re setting up your hierarchy from scratch, the top-down method is the most intuitive:
Create a top-level entity, such as an Org Unit
On the entity page, go to the Related Entities list
Add any child entities, such as sub-units or establishments
Repeat this structure down the chain as needed:
Add Zones to Establishments
Add Processes to Zones
Add Assets to Zones or Processes
This method helps keep things clean and ensures each level is linked correctly from the start.
🔼 Bottom-Up Approach (Ideal for Updating Existing Records)
If you already have a lot of entities in the system, the fastest way to build the hierarchy is from the bottom up:
Open any entity record (e.g., a Zone or Asset)
Locate the Parent field
Set the correct parent entity (e.g., link a Zone to its Establishment)
As soon as you assign a parent, that entity becomes part of your org tree — no additional configuration needed.
🧩 Why This Matters
Building your organizational hierarchy helps you:
Route tasks to the correct site, department, or team
Filter reports and dashboards by location or function
Assign ownership and accountability
Map your operations more clearly for audits, risk assessments, and inspections
🛠 And once it's set up, Serenity can use it to automate workflows and task assignments based on location, role, or asset.
✅ Tips for Maintaining Your Hierarchy
Lay the foundation first: Start by defining your Org Units and Establishments, then build out Zones, Assets, and Processes.
Use consistent naming conventions: Keep naming simple, recognizable, and aligned across sites, departments, and asset types.
Assign ownership early: Designate responsible users or groups at each level (e.g., site manager, EHS Group) to streamline routing and accountability.
Don’t overbuild — only go as deep as you need
Use the Parent field to link existing records together
Review the hierarchy quarterly to reflect any organizational changes
Reach out to your internal admin team before making structural changes at the top level
Leverage a source of truth: Whenever possible, integrate Serenity with existing authoritative systems (HRIS, identity platforms, CMMS) to automatically maintain your structure and avoid manual errors.
We recommend leveraging our integration with Azure Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) to create and manage Establishments. This ensures that users are automatically assigned to the correct site based on their organizational identity — reducing setup time and ongoing maintenance.
⚙️ Additional Integrations are available through our services organization. Contact your system administrator or sales representative to scope integrations and define a statement of work (SOW).