Placing a hold

Use this page to block or mark stock: a lot that waits for a quality check, a location that is damaged, a pallet that must not be picked.

Before you start

• You are ADMIN or MANAGER. The API method create_inventory_hold_row is open only to them by default.
• You know the one thing to hold: a lot, a location or a container.
• You know the reason code. Look at the table below to see what the code does.

Steps

1. Open Inventory Balances > Holds.
2. Click New Hold. The hold form opens.
3. Pick the Reason code.
4. Fill exactly one of Lot, Location and Container (LPN). Use the pick list next to the field.
5. If you want to, type Comments.
6. Click Save. The screen goes back to the list.

What the screen says

Result	Message
Reason code empty	hold reason code must not be empty
Reason code unknown	unknown hold reason code '{code}' — not in inventory_hold_code
Nothing chosen	a hold needs a target — set a lot, a location, or a container
Two or three chosen	set exactly one of lot / location / container, not several
Location of pick pallets	location {loc} holds only open pick pallets: it takes no location hold (hold the pallet by its LPN)

What a reason code does

The codes are rows of the table inventory_hold_code. Each row has these settings:

Setting	Meaning
enforce	The hold is a real stop for moves and for the status of a location. Off means those two ignore the hold. The ATP view does not read this setting (see below).
overridable	A supervisor may accept the stop and go on (for example, move the stock out anyway).
block_inbound_flow	You may not put stock into a held location (receiving, the destination of a move). Default on.
block_outbound_flow	You may not take stock out (available quantity, allocation, the source of a move). Default on.
active	Off switches the code off: it blocks nothing.

The codes a new database has (crates/libs/wms-lib-sql/sql/wms-app/migrations/001_baseline.sql:8227-8243, 011_a_hold_says_what_it_forbids.sql:57-61):

Code	Meaning in the table	enforce	overridable	Blocks putting in
None	No hold	No	No
Ok	Released, no active hold	No	No
NotHold	Explicit no-hold choice	No	No
PIHold	Physical inventory / cycle count	Yes	Yes	Yes
QcRequired	SKU requires QC at receive	Yes	Yes	Yes
NewItem	First-receive supervisor review	Yes	Yes	Yes
QcQuarantine	In the QC zone, waiting for inspection	Yes	Yes	Yes
Customs	Customs clearance pending	Yes	Yes	Yes
CustomerReturn	Customer return inspection pending	Yes	Yes	Yes
Expired	Past the expiry date	Yes	Yes	Yes
Other	Catch-all	Yes	Yes	Yes
Damaged	Physical damage	Yes	No	No. Damaged stock may be put in (the damage location), but not taken out.
Rtv	Waiting to go back to the vendor	Yes	No	Yes
Destroy	Waiting for destruction	Yes	No	Yes
Lost	Missing per cycle count	Yes	No	Yes
LocBlocked	Administrative location block	Yes	No	Yes

Every code has block_outbound_flow on. The ATP view reads only active and block_outbound_flow, so a hold with None, Ok or NotHold also lowers ATP to 0, although a move and the status of a location ignore it (HoldPolicy::decide returns Allow when enforce is off: crates/libs/wms-inventory/src/movement/hold_policy.rs:154-168). The codes are kept under Code Lists (hold_code_menu).

What changes

What	Change
inventory_hold	A new row with is_hold_on on, status Ok, the date and the user, and a release date about 100 years away.
ATP	Rows covered by the hold get ATP 0 when the code is active and has block_outbound_flow on. See ATP.
Location status	A hold on a location sets the status of the location again: Damage if an enforcing Damaged hold is on, else Hold if any enforcing hold is on, else Ok. A hold with enforce off does not change it. (crates/libs/wms-inventory/src/service/hold.rs:439-523)
Moves	A move from or into a held place is refused unless a supervisor accepts it, when the code is overridable.
Lists	The hold appears in Holds and On Hold.

A hold is fixed to a code: a hold on a lot holds every SKU and owner that uses that lot code.

How a hold ends

There is no button on the web screens.

• The API method release_inventory_hold releases a hold by its id. It writes release: {reason} (default manual release) to the comments. A hold that is already off is left as it is.
• A move of a held container may release and add holds (the hold cascade).
• The write-off of damaged goods in receiving releases the damage hold.
• A hold whose release date has passed is released by the 5-minute sweeper. No hold gets a near date today. See Holds list.

When the last enforcing hold of a location is released, the status of the location goes back to Ok.

What can go wrong

Problem	What it means
The code is accepted but nothing is blocked	The code is switched off (active off): ATP and moves ignore it. The save accepts a switched-off code (InventoryHoldCodeBmc::exists_by_code does not look at active).
The code is None, Ok or NotHold	A move and the location status ignore the hold (enforce off), but ATP drops to 0.
A hold on a lot, location or container that does not exist	The save does not check that the target exists. The hold is stored and covers nothing. For a container the code only looks the container up to lock it, and goes on when it finds none (hold.rs:46-61, container.rs:1069-1077). The pick lists offer only real codes, but the API accepts any text.

Related pages

• Hold form
• Holds list
• Changing the note of a hold
• API: create_inventory_hold_row (used by the form), create_inventory_hold (stateless command), release_inventory_hold (stateless command), list_active_holds_by_lpn
• RF terminal: none.