Job Phases Reference
Statuses group into four phases. Phases are what the board and the calendars use to colour work, so you can read a floor without reading every label.
The four phases
| Phase | Means | Statuses in it |
|---|---|---|
| Planning | Agreed, not yet being worked on | Waiting Decision, Waiting Approval, Waiting Parts, Waiting Sublets, Ready for Service |
| Production | Being worked on | In Progress, Paused |
| Quality | Work done, being checked | Inspection, Road Test |
| Completion | Checked, being finished and handed back | Washing, Finalized, Waiting Invoicing, Waiting Delivery, Delivered |
Why phases cannot be skipped
A job moves forward through the phases in order. Paint does not begin before prep is complete; a vehicle is not handed over before its quality check.
This is enforced rather than advisory. It is what stops a rushed afternoon producing a vehicle that reaches the customer without the check it needed — the commonest and most expensive kind of workshop mistake.
Going backwards is allowed, and is what rework is: reopening a completed stage sends the vehicle back to the point where the problem was introduced.
Phases on the calendars
On the bay and technician calendars, a job’s bar is coloured by its phase. A shop’s day therefore reads at a glance: how much is still in planning, how much is genuinely in production, how much has reached completion and is waiting to leave.
A floor that is mostly completion-coloured at 3pm has a handover problem, not a capacity problem.