Real-Time Lot Status Board

This glossary term is part of the SG Systems Global regulatory & operations guide library.

Updated January 2026 • lot status visibility, hold/release, quarantine governance, WIP aging, QA disposition, movement blocks, exception alerts, batch release readiness • Primarily Regulated Manufacturing & Warehousing (traceability, compliance execution, audit readiness)

Real-Time Lot Status Board is a live operational view that shows the current eligibility and condition of every lot (raw materials, WIP, intermediates, finished goods, and packaging components) across the facility—released, quarantined, on hold, expired, under investigation, staged, in-process, or shipped—with the reasons and blockers attached. It is the practical interface between your policy (“we don’t use held lots”) and reality (“what is actually eligible right now?”).

Most plants fail lot control not because they don’t have statuses, but because statuses are hidden, inconsistent, or lag reality. A lot is on hold in the QMS, but the warehouse still picks it. A lot is quarantined, but it’s staged to production because someone thought it was released. A lot is expired, but the system doesn’t surface it until the batch review. A lot is released, but a linked deviation is still open. These failures are not bad people—they’re bad visibility and weak gating. A real-time status board is how you make lot control operationally usable.

A status board is not just a dashboard. In mature systems, it is a decision tool and a control tool: it shows what is blocked, why it is blocked, who owns the blocker, how long it has been blocked, and what action is required to clear it. When integrated with movement and execution systems, it also functions as an enforcement signal: lots that are not eligible should be unpickable, unconsumable, and unshippable. That is how you keep “inventory truth” aligned to compliance truth.

“If your lot status is only visible to QA, it isn’t a control. It’s a secret.”

1) What a real-time lot status board actually is

A real-time lot status board is a consolidated operational view of lot eligibility and constraints. “Real-time” means it updates based on events: receipts, QC results, deviation creation/closure, temperature alarms, movement exceptions, and QA disposition changes. “Status” means not only the state (released/hold/quarantine) but the reasons, blockers, and required actions.

In mature systems, it is also the authoritative basis for gating. The board doesn’t just show “on hold.” It connects to the systems that prevent the lot from being picked, consumed, or shipped.

2) Why lot status visibility is a compliance control (not a nice UI)

Lot status is the simplest control concept in regulated operations: eligible vs not eligible. The hard part is making that concept operational under real conditions: multiple systems, multiple shifts, and constant movement. Without high visibility, people operate on assumptions and stale information.

A real-time board reduces three major risks:

• Accidental use of non-eligible lots: production consumes held or quarantined material due to visibility gaps.
• Delayed detection of blockers: QA discovers missing evidence late, extending release cycle time.
• Audit defensibility gaps: inability to show status history and reasons at the time of use or shipment.

In plain terms: visibility is part of control because control is only effective if people can see it and systems enforce it.

3) Scope map: what lots and objects should appear

A lot status board should include any object whose eligibility matters to quality, traceability, or shipment integrity. That usually includes:

The board should also support filtering by location, SKU, customer program, and risk category so teams can focus on what matters.

4) State model: released, quarantine, hold, expired, under review

Status boards are only useful if the state model is unambiguous. A robust model usually includes:

• Quarantine: inbound lots pending verification/testing.
• Hold: lots blocked due to deviations, temperature excursions, investigations, or pending approvals.
• Released: eligible for use or shipment under defined scope.
• Rejected: not eligible; controlled disposition required.
• Expired: shelf-life or time-window exceeded; FEFO and disposition rules apply.
• Under review: conditional state where evidence is being evaluated and movement may be restricted.

Each state must map to real behaviors in WMS/MES. If “hold” still allows picking, the state model is decorative.

5) Blockers and reasons: turning “hold” into actionable information

The number-one failure of status boards is that they show “hold” without telling anyone what to do next. A real board attaches blockers:

• Missing QC results: required tests not complete or not reviewed.
• Open deviations/NCs: linked events not closed or not dispositioned.
• Temperature excursion pending: exposure evaluation not completed.
• CoA not matched: inbound acceptance evidence missing.
• Packaging reconciliation incomplete: label/seal counts not reconciled.
• WIP aging exceeded: hold-time window breached.

Each blocker should have an owner (QA, lab, supplier quality, production supervisor) and an SLA clock. Otherwise, “hold” becomes a passive state and your release cycle time becomes unpredictable.

6) Evidence linkage: what proof must be one click away

Status without evidence is opinion. A defensible board links to evidence objects:

• CoA documents and acceptance checks,
• incoming inspection records and sampling results,
• QC test results and review approvals,
• deviation/NC records and dispositions,
• hold/release signatures and approval history,
• temperature alarm records and excursion evaluations,
• packaging reconciliation summaries (when relevant),
• audit trail history for status changes.

This is what makes the board audit-friendly: you can show not only that a lot was held, but why it was held, who acted, and what evidence cleared the hold.

7) Workflow integration: how the board drives action

A real-time board should not be a passive display. It should drive workflows:

• Assignment: blockers automatically assign tasks to owners.
• Escalation: overdue blockers escalate to management/QA leadership.
• Resolution paths: board provides “next action” buttons (request QC review, create deviation, request supplier doc, apply hold).
• Preventive alerts: warns before lots become expired or before WIP aging breaches.

If the board can show risk early, you can fix it early. That’s the difference between stable release operations and constant firefighting.

8) WMS integration: pick/put-away/shipment gating from the board

The status board must align to physical movement control. In the warehouse, that means:

• lots on hold/quarantine are unpickable,
• put-away rules prevent held lots from entering released zones,
• shipment confirmation blocks if any included lot is not released,
• movement exceptions generate alerts and automatically update status when needed.

This is how you eliminate dual reality: “held in QA” but “shipped in ERP.” The board should reflect the same truth the warehouse executes.

9) MES integration: consumption gating and step-level eligibility

In production, the board’s truth must align with consumption logic:

• operators can only select eligible lots for weighing/dispensing,
• WIP cannot proceed to next steps if critical checks are open,
• equipment or batch holds triggered by deviations reflect immediately.

When MES and the status board agree, you get hard-gated execution. When they don’t, you get human workarounds and evidence gaps.

10) Aging and expiry overlays: WIP dwell, FEFO, and shelf-life

A mature board overlays time-based risk:

• WIP aging: how long intermediates have been waiting, and whether hold-time windows are approaching.
• Expiry countdown: days to expiry for lots, highlighting FEFO priorities.
• Temperature exposure time: where relevant, time out of controlled storage.

This is where a board becomes proactive. It helps teams avoid violations rather than just recording them.

11) Exception overlays: deviations, OOS/OOT, and investigations

Lot status is often blocked by exceptions. The board should show exception overlays:

• open deviations/NCs linked to the lot,
• OOS/OOT investigations linked to QC results,
• temperature excursion evaluations pending,
• supplier CoA issues or NCMRs on inbound lots.

Overlay visibility prevents the classic failure: QA discovers an open event only at release time, extending cycle time and increasing pressure to shortcut.

12) Real-time alerts and escalation: preventing silent status drift

Real-time boards require real-time alerts. Otherwise, the board becomes a static screen that nobody checks. Alerts should trigger when:

• a lot’s status changes (hold applied, released, rejected),
• a blocker is created or cleared,
• an SLA is breached (hold aging too long),
• a high-risk movement exception occurs (quarantine leakage attempt),
• expiry thresholds are crossed or near-crossed.

Escalation ensures ownership. If blockers can sit for days with no escalation, the board becomes a graveyard, not a control tool.

13) Role views: QA vs warehouse vs production vs management

Different roles need different views:

• QA: blockers, evidence links, deviation queues, release readiness.
• Warehouse: pick eligibility, zone constraints, movement exception alerts, FEFO priorities.
• Production: what lots are eligible to dispense now, which WIP is blocked, what equipment/steps are held.
• Management: bottleneck KPIs (holds by cause, release cycle time, repeat exceptions).

The same truth, filtered by role, prevents confusion and improves compliance culture because people see what they need to do, not just what QA cares about.

14) KPIs: measuring holds, dwell time, and release throughput

A status board is also a measurement tool. Useful KPIs include:

KPIs should be used to improve the system, not to blame operators. If people fear KPIs, they will hide holds instead of managing them.

15) Inspection posture: proving control with status history

Auditors love status history because it is objective. They will pick a lot and ask: “was it held, when, why, and what cleared it?” A strong board provides that instantly.

Expect questions like:

• “Show me the status history for this lot and why it was released.”
• “How do you ensure held lots cannot be shipped or consumed?”
• “Show me how you manage expiry and FEFO.”
• “Show me how deviations linked to this lot were resolved before release.”

If you can show status history linked to evidence and gating, you look in control. If you can only show a current status and not the history, you look exposed.

16) Failure patterns: when status boards become wallpaper

• Not real-time. Status updates lag by hours/days; people stop trusting the board.
• No gating. Board says hold, warehouse still picks; board becomes advisory.
• No blockers. Status shown without reasons; no one knows what to do.
• Too much noise. Hundreds of minor flags; people ignore the critical ones.
• Fragmented truth. QMS, WMS, MES disagree; people choose whichever system helps them move product.
• No ownership. Holds age indefinitely; no escalation and no accountability.

The solution is integrated enforcement: real-time events, clear state model, blockers with owners, and gating in the systems that move product.

17) How this maps to V5 by SG Systems Global

V5 supports Real-Time Lot Status Boards by unifying status signals across execution, warehouse, and quality workflows. In practice, V5 can:

• maintain a governed lot status model aligned to hold/release and QA disposition,
• surface blockers and link evidence (QC results, deviations, CoA matches, excursion evaluations),
• enforce movement and consumption gating through V5 WMS and V5 MES,
• trigger and track exceptions through governed workflows in V5 QMS,
• provide FEFO/expiry and WIP aging overlays using time-based rules, and
• protect status changes with a complete audit trail.

Because the board is only as good as its integrations, V5 Connect can also pull relevant signals from ERP or LIMS systems so the status board stays aligned with reality rather than lagging. For the integrated picture, start with V5 Solution Overview and connect the layers (MES + WMS + QMS) into a single control surface.

18) Extended FAQ

Q1. Isn’t a lot status board just a dashboard?
Not if it’s real. A real board is linked to gating—lots on hold are unpickable and unconsumable—and it shows blockers with owners and evidence links. A dashboard without enforcement is wallpaper.

Q2. What’s the biggest value of a real-time board?
Early visibility of blockers. It shortens release cycle time by showing missing evidence before QA is forced into last-minute detective work.

Q3. How do we keep the board accurate?
Make it event-driven and integrated. Status should update automatically from QC results, deviation workflows, movement exceptions, and hold/release actions. Manual status updates create lag and distrust.

Q4. How do we prevent “shadow shipments”?
Gate shipments in the system that confirms shipments. If your WMS or ERP can ship held lots, your status board doesn’t matter. The board must be tied to the transactional gate.

Q5. How do we prove it helps compliance?
Show auditors a lot status history with linked evidence and demonstrate that held lots cannot be picked or shipped. Demonstration beats policy statements every time.

Related Reading (keep it practical)
A lot status board is most effective when built on enforced hold/release controls, proactive WIP aging and expiry controls, and real-time movement exceptions. For defensibility, status changes should be protected by a complete audit trail and linked to evidence objects (QC results, deviations, approvals) so every status is provable.