Hold Status
In an inventory/material-tracking context, Hold Status means a part, stock record, PO, sales order, or receipt is temporarily blocked from normal processing until a review, correction, or approval is completed. In ERP/WMS systems this can mean receipts and invoices cannot be processed, outbound shipments are blocked, or the item is marked unavailable for allocation.
On a shop floor or in warehousing, a hold prevents a lot from being picked, kitted, issued, shipped, or consumed until QA, receiving, procurement, or planning clears it. In WMS systems, inventory marked HOLD is explicitly not available for outbound shipments: the location may still physically contain stock, but the system excludes it from allocation, wave release, and shipment confirmation. In ERP/procurement, a PO on hold can suspend receiving and invoicing so mismatch resolution, revision approval, or supplier correction happens before the transaction advances. In order management, a hold can also block backorders and shipping, forcing exception handling before fulfillment proceeds. In practice, this is how plants quarantine suspect raw material lots, prevent mixed-status WIP from being consumed, stop a supplier line from auto-receiving, or freeze a customer order until engineering, quality, or credit review completes.
- Physical stock exists but system inventory is unavailable: A lot sits in the warehouse, but HOLD status excludes it from allocation and outbound shipment, creating a false stockout and forcing planners to expedite replacement material.
- Receiving bottleneck from unresolved PO holds: A buyer revises a PO, but the hold is not cleared after approval, so receipts and invoices remain suspended, causing dock congestion and AP exceptions.
- Order fulfillment stalls due to unprocessed exceptions: Sales or production orders remain blocked until a user clears the hold. If clearance is mismanaged, orders sit in queue while operators assume someone else resolved them, creating missed ship dates.
Is HOLD the same as blocked inventory?
Functionally yes in most systems; it denotes inventory or a document is not eligible for normal processing until released, though the exact consequences differ by module.
Can held inventory still be counted in on-hand?
Usually yes. It may remain physically present and often still counted in on-hand, but it is excluded from available-to-promise or outbound shipment eligibility.
Who clears a hold?
Typically a role with approval/security rights in the ERP/WMS; some systems require checkout or override controls so only one user can clear or modify a hold at a time.