Decommission Events
A decommission event records the end of an item instance's active traceability lifecycle, or the removal of a given quantity from that lifecycle.
This page explains the concept. Start with Understanding Event-Based Traceability in Wholechain for shared concepts.
To perform this event, see Decommission. For every event type, see the Wholechain Events Overview.
What a decommission event represents
A decommission event records the end of an item instance's active traceability lifecycle, or the removal of a given quantity from that lifecycle. It says: this instance (or this much of it) is no longer part of active traceability.
When and why to use it
Use decommission when product leaves your traced supply chain and you don't expect to record further events for that quantity. Examples:
- Destruction. Damaged or contaminated product is destroyed.
- Expiration or disposal. Product passes its date and is discarded.
- A retailer's terminal step. A retailer's last traceable step before sale to a consumer.
- A final sale by a mid-supply-chain participant when no downstream traceability handoff is required.
These are business-use examples, not universal instructions. Shelving or selling something doesn't automatically mean decommission is the right event under every policy or customer requirement. Some retailers decommission at the shelf, some at the point of sale, and some don't decommission at all. Follow your company's policy and the requirements of those you trade with.
Shipment, adjustment, or end-of-lifecycle?
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| Goods go to another company that will keep tracing them. | Ship |
| Quantity is slightly off after a reweigh, product still here. | Observe |
| Goods are destroyed, expired, or at their last traceable step. | Decommission |
What it does to traceability history
Decommission ends active traceability for the quantity involved. It does not delete history. Decommissioned lots remain discoverable in Wholechain's historical records. Everything recorded before the decommission stays visible.
Required information and master-data prerequisites
| Category | For decommission |
|---|---|
| Location | Where the item was when its lifecycle ended. |
| Item | The product being decommissioned. |
| Quantity | The amount, in the item's configured unit of measure. |
| Lot or serial identifier | The specific instance. |
| Event date and time | When the lifecycle ended (for example, when it was destroyed or sold). |
| Disposition | Why the quantity is being decommissioned, for example Destroyed or Disposed. |
A decommission requires a Disposition and nothing else to explain why. There is no separate Reason field. The Disposition records the reason, for example Destroyed or Disposed.
A decommission cannot use the Containers tab. If the goods are inside a container, disaggregate the container first.
The item and unit of measure come from Trade Items. The Location comes from Locations.
Relationship to inventory, lots or serials, and other events
- Inventory. The decommissioned quantity leaves active inventory. If you decommission only part of a lot, the remaining inventory stays available for other traceability events.
- Lots or serials. The identifier remains in history and remains searchable.
- Other events. Make sure nothing else needs to happen to the quantity before you decommission it. Typical predecessors include receive, disaggregate, and observe.
Examples
Destruction. A cold-storage failure spoils 120 kg of fillet lot FIL-0412-A at Metro Fresh. Metro Fresh decommissions 120 kg with the Disposition Destroyed. The decommission stays visible in the lot's history.
Retailer terminal step. A grocery retailer receives cartons from Metro Fresh and, under its own policy, decommissions each carton at the time of consumer sale, since the consumer isn't part of the traced chain.
Final sale by a mid-chain participant. A small distributor sells directly to restaurants that don't use traceability. When the product leaves the distributor with no downstream handoff, the distributor decommissions it at the end of its recorded history. (If the restaurant were in the traceability network, ship would be the right event.)
Some businesses never decommission, because their products continue downstream or their policy doesn't call for it.
Common misunderstandings
- "Decommission deletes the record." It doesn't. History stays discoverable.
- "Decommission is how I record a sale to a customer." Not if the customer is a Trade Partner who will trace onward. That's a ship.
- "I can decommission to correct a quantity." Small corrections are an observe. Decommission is for removing quantity from the active lifecycle.
- "Decommission is always required at the end." Only if your process or customers call for it.
- "I add a reason when I decommission." There is no Reason field. The Disposition you choose records why.
- "I can decommission a container." Decommission cannot use the Containers tab. Disaggregate the container first, then decommission the lots.
Relevant restrictions
- Decommission is recorded at your own Location. If a Trade Partner is Wholechain connected, your account can't decommission at that partner's Locations. See connected trade partners.
- Decommission ends active traceability for the quantity involved. It doesn't remove history.
- Decommission cannot use the Containers tab. Containers must be disaggregated first.
Notes on standards and regulations
- GDST (Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability): GDST 2.0 introduces a decommission event. See GDST and Wholechain.
- FSMA 204 (the U.S. FDA Food Traceability Rule): See FSMA 204 and Wholechain for how Wholechain events relate to the rule.
Decommissioning doesn't by itself establish compliance with a standard or regulation.