Understanding item statuses

Read time: ~6 minutes

Applies to: Admin Portal

What you’ll learn

Learn what each item status means in CRIBWISE and when to use it. Item statuses control whether an item can be picked, ordered, and assigned to locations — understanding them helps you manage items through their full life cycle.

Item statuses at a glance

Every item in CRIBWISE has a status that controls what you and your operators can do with it. You set the status on the item’s General information tab under Data Management > Items.

Defined

What it means: The item exists in the system but is not yet available for use. This is the default status when you create a new item or import one from a catalog.

What you can do:

• Configure all item fields — supplier, stock levels, cost, and notifications.
• Change the item type between consumable and durable.
• Enable or disable the Serialized and Assembly flags.
• Assign the item to devices and locations through the Admin Portal.

What you cannot do:

• Pick, restock, or inventory the item.
• Create purchase or service orders for the item.
• Assign the item to locations through the Shop Floor Interface.

Benefit: Defined gives you a safe setup period. You can configure every detail without the item appearing in pick lists or triggering automatic purchase orders. Take the time to verify suppliers, set correct stock levels, and assign locations before making the item available.

Important: Once you change the status away from Defined, you cannot change it back. The item type (consumable/durable), serialized, and assembly settings can only be changed while the item is in Defined status.

Phase in

What it means: The item is being introduced into the system. Stock is being built up, but operators cannot pick it yet.

What you can do:

• Assign the item to devices and locations.
• Create purchase orders to build up stock (manually or automatically).
• Restock and inventory the item.
• Pick the item only when it is offered as a substitute for another item, or to administrators with privilege to override picking rules

What you cannot do:

• Offer the item for standard picking — it does not appear in pick lists.

Benefit: Phase in lets you stock shelves and fill storage locations before operators see the item. This prevents operators from trying to pick an item that has not arrived yet, and gives you time to build up enough inventory to meet demand on day one.

Tip: If you do not need a ramp-up period, you can skip Phase in and go directly from Defined to Released.

Released

What it means: The item is fully active and available for all operations without restrictions.

What you can do:

• Everything — pick, return, restock, inventory, order, and assign to locations.

Benefit: Released is the standard operating status. Items spend most of their life cycle here. All automated processes work normally: purchase orders are generated when stock drops below critical levels, operators can pick and return items freely, and the item appears in all reports.

Phase out

What it means: The item is being retired. Operators can still pick existing stock, but no new stock is ordered.

What you can do:

Same as released status but without the ordering.

• Pick items from existing stock.
• Return items.
• Restock items from existing inventory.
• Request items from central stock.
• Service items internally.

What you cannot do:

• Create new purchase orders for the item (manually or automatically).
• Send the item for external service.

Benefit: Phase out lets you use up remaining stock without wasting inventory. Instead of immediately removing an item, you allow operators to continue picking until stock runs out naturally. This is ideal when you are replacing an item with a newer version — set the old item to Phase out and configure the replacement as a substitute.

Tip: Set up a substitute item before changing the status to Phase out. This way, operators are automatically offered the replacement when the phased-out item runs low.

Obsolete

What it means: The item is no longer used and is removed from active operations.

What you can do:

• Return items that were previously picked (operators can still bring items back).

What you cannot do:

• Pick the item — it does not appear in pick lists.
• Create purchase or service orders.
• Assign the item to new locations.

Benefit: Obsolete keeps the item in the system for historical tracking and reporting, but prevents any new activity. Use it for items that have been fully replaced or discontinued. Keeping them as Obsolete rather than deleting them preserves transaction history, cost data, and audit trails.

Typical life cycle

Most items follow this path:

1. Defined — Create the item and configure all fields.
2. Released — Make the item available for daily use.
3. Phase out — Begin retiring the item when a replacement is available.
4. Obsolete — Remove the item from active use after all stock is consumed.

You can skip statuses when they do not apply:

• Defined → Released — Skip Phase in when the item is ready immediately.
• Released → Obsolete — Skip Phase out when you need to stop the item right away.

Note: Once an item has been changed from Defined to any other status and saved, there is no coming back. It is possible to alternate between other statuses.

Common confusion

Take action

Ready to change an item’s status? Open the item in Data Management > Items, go to the General information tab, and select the new status from the Status dropdown. See How to create an item manually for the full step-by-step guide.

Related articles

• Understanding Item Types and Statuses — Overview of item types (consumable vs. durable) and status basics
• How to Create an Item Manually — Step-by-step guide to creating items, including setting the initial status
• Manage Items — General Information — Detailed reference for all fields on the General information tab
• Substituting Items — Set up replacement items during phase out
• Manage Items — Item Stock State — How stock state differs from item status