Lifecycle Status

Objective: To help our users better understand the validation rules of lifecycle status and revisions.

Difficulty: Intermediate

In this article:

1. Requirements of each status

2. Status progression

   • How sourcing affects the status progression

3. Status & revision relationship

4. Pro tips

Lifecycle status and revision control are the heart of Duro. You should be able to make changes as frictionless and efficiently as possible. In this article, we delve into status values and progression.

Requirements of each status

Each product and component has a status value that identifies the appropriate stage of the lifecycle. Earlier status stages have the most flexibility for edits and incomplete data. As a component progresses toward production, validation rules will become more stringent, guiding you toward a clean and complete production-ready Bill of Materials (BOM).

VALUE	DESCRIPTION
DESIGN	The earliest stage is where products and components will have the most fluctuation and uncertainty. Components do not use strict revision control while in Design status. Users have a choice of saving their edits to the current revision or save as a new revision. This is the only stage in which you can change the category of a component or product. Revision values may be left empty or have a value of 1 to 999 or A to ZZ. Components can be deleted while still in Design status.
PROTOTYPE	Physical instantiations of a product or component have been produced, typically at low volumes, and used for functional evaluation. Specifications are being solidified but may change. This is the first stage in which components begin revision control. To take effect, all edits to specification fields, sources, and attached documents will require a Change Order. Revision values are in the range of 1 to 999.
PRODUCTION	The later stage of a product or component involves producing units intended for customers or final usage. Specifications are locked down and should rarely change.  All changes are under revision control and require a Change Order to take effect. Revision values are in the range of A to ZZ.
OBSOLETE	The final stage of a product or component, once they have been marked to be taken out of production. Various causes can result in an Obsolete status and should be noted accordingly.  Revision values are in the range of A to ZZ.

Status progression

As described above, each product and component can have one of four different values:

    Design, Prototype, Production, or Obsolete.

These status values are progressive. Once a value is set and approved through a Change Order, it can not be reverted. This is meant to mirror the natural progression of a product as it matures from an initial concept design through prototyping into production and eventual end of life.

How sourcing affects the status progression

When you submit a Change Order, a sourcing validation process is initiated. During this process, Duro scans for discrepancies and errors. If any products in the order lack complete sourcing information—such as missing entries in the Sourcing Table or absence of a designated primary source—these issues will be flagged. Although these discrepancies won’t prevent the progression of the Change Order, as they don't trigger a critical error, you will receive a warning message to alert you of the potential sourcing issues.

For sourcing and validation requirements information, please visit Lifecycle Validations and Updates. 

Mid-state promotions

Mid-state promotions for lifecycle values provide transparency during component and product lifecycle transitions by showing both the current and target lifecycle statuses. When an item moves from one lifecycle status to another, such as from Design to Prototype, it enters a mid-state where the promotion has started but is not yet finalized. This ensures that users can see both lifecycle statuses in a split status label, which helps avoid confusion and manage transitions effectively. Once the change is approved, the status updates to reflect the target lifecycle state.

For example, a component might be shown as “Design → Prototype” during the transition, allowing teams to maintain clarity on the current stage.

For more details on lifecycle status mid-state promotions, refer to the full article on Mid-State Promotions.

Status & revision relationship

Each status has an associated revision value. This is because of consistency and clear identification of a product's maturity.

The permissible revision values for each status are outlined in the following table:

Status	Empty	Integers	Letter
DESIGN	Yes	1..999	A..ZZ
PROTOTYPE	No	1..999	No
PRODUCTION	No	No	A..ZZ
OBSOLETE	Yes	No	A..ZZ

Read more about revisioning in our Revisions article.

Pro tips

Need to find a component or product in a specific lifecycle stage? You can quickly narrow your search using key search terms to pull up all products or components in Design, Prototype, Production, or Obsolete. You can also use the coordinating search phrases to find the products and components you're looking for; simply follow the directions below.

Finding products by status

1. Navigate to your dashboard or select Products from the left navigation.
2. In the Search Bar, use the coordinating search terms as specified below.

Note: If you choose to search from your Product Library, "Type:prd" will already be present in the Search Bar.

• To find products in a lifecycle status of Design:

  • Type:prd status:design

• To find products in a lifecycle status of Prototype:

  • Type:prd status:prototype

• To find products in a lifecycle status of Production:

  • Type:prd status:production

• To find products in a lifecycle status of Obsolete:

  • Type:prd status:obsolete

Finding components by status

1. Navigate to your dashboard or select Components from the left navigation.
2. In the Search Bar, use the coordinating search term as specified below.

Note: If you choose to search from your Component Library, "Type:cmp" will already be present in the Search Bar.

• To find components in a lifecycle status of Design:
  • Type:cmp status:design
• To find components in a lifecycle status of Prototype:
  • Type:cmp status:prototype
• To find components in a lifecycle status of Production:
  • Type:cmp status:production
• To find components in a lifecycle status of Obsolete:
  • Type:cmp status:obsolete

To read more about searching phrases and methodology, read our Search Feature article.