Statuses and workflows
The statuses of requests and shipments show at which stage of the work a record is. LogiFlow lets you fully configure the set of statuses to match the process of your specific company: the standard values can be renamed, deleted, and your own can be added.
Statuses are not "hard-wired" into the system. They are directories bound to your company: every company keeps its own set of request statuses and its own set of shipment statuses. There is no rigid state machine on the server — this is a deliberate decision, so as not to impose someone else's process.
Who can configure the statuses
Configuring the statuses (creating, renaming, changing the order and the flags, deleting) is available to the management level of the company — the Administrator and Head roles.
| Action on statuses | Administrator | Head | Manager | Warehouse worker | Client |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View statuses | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Create / edit / delete statuses | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Change the status of a specific request/shipment | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
Managers and warehouse workers actively use the statuses (they change the status of requests and shipments as the work goes on) but do not edit the status directory. The client only sees the statuses of their own records and cannot change them.
Where they are configured
Settings → Directories → Request statuses and Shipment statuses (see Directories).
Each directory shows a table with the following fields:
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Name | How the status is shown to the users. |
| Code | A short identifier of the status for integrations. Unique within the company. |
| Default | Marks the status that is considered the starting one. A company can have only one "default" status (for shipment statuses — one per shipment type). |
| Final | Marks a completed state (for example, "Issued", "Delivered"). It affects the automation and the analytics (see below). |
| Order | The order in which the statuses are shown in the lists. Unique within the company. |
| Standard time (h) | How many hours a record should stay in this status according to the norm. Used in analytics to track delays. Optional; the maximum is 4320 hours (180 days). |
A shipment status can be bound to a shipment type (road, rail, air…). This means that different sets of statuses can be maintained for different modes of transportation. That is why the requirement "exactly one default status" is checked per shipment type.
What the "Default" and "Final" flags mean
Default
The "default" status is the starting status.
An important nuance: on manual creation of a request or a shipment the system does not substitute the "default" status automatically — the starting status is chosen by whoever creates the record. The "default" flag is used by the system in automatic scenarios, primarily when copying a request: the copy always gets the status marked "default". That is why a company must always have exactly one such status.
Final
A final status marks the completed state of a record. There is automation attached to it:
- When a request moves into a final status, the system sets the end date of the last transportation leg (if it is empty) to the current date.
- When a shipment moves into a final status, a delivery notification is additionally sent, and the end date of the last leg is filled in the same way.
- Records in final statuses are counted differently in analytics (as completed, not as active).
Standard time and delay control
The Standard time (h) field sets the expected duration of a record's stay in a status. By comparing the norm with the real time (from the status change history), analytics shows where the process "sags" relative to the norm. If you do not need time control, leave the field empty.
A good design for a set of statuses
A few rules from practice:
- Do not multiply statuses. If there are more than 8–10, some of them are most likely redundant, or they are an attribute that is better kept separately. For example, "paid" is not a transportation status but a settlement attribute (see Settlements).
- One default status. For requests in the standard installation it is "New request", for shipments — "Expected".
- Final statuses. For requests it is "Issued", for shipments — "Delivered" (and/or your own "Closed"). Marking them correctly is needed for the analytics and the automation.
- A single grammatical form. Either all the names are verbal nouns ("Loading", "Delivery"), or all of them are participles ("Loaded", "Delivered"). Do not mix them.
- A meaningful order. The "Order" field sets the sequence in the drop-down lists — line the statuses up along the course of the process.
The standard out-of-the-box sets of statuses
When a new company is created, the basic sets are set up automatically. They can be changed completely to suit you.
Request statuses (6 of them):
| Order | Name | Default | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New request | ✅ | |
| 2 | Expected at the warehouse | ||
| 3 | Being formed | ||
| 4 | In progress | ||
| 5 | Ready for pick-up | ||
| 6 | Issued | ✅ |
Shipment statuses (4 of them):
| Order | Name | Default | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Expected | ✅ | |
| 2 | Loading | ||
| 3 | In transit | ||
| 4 | Delivered | ✅ |
If your process needs intermediate states (for example, "Being unloaded" or "Closed" for shipments), add them to the directory. The basic set is deliberately compact.
Changing the status of a specific record
In the request or shipment card the status is a drop-down list. The manager or the warehouse worker selects a new value.
- Every change is recorded in the history: the new status, who set it and when. The history is available on the history tab of the card.
- On a one-by-one status change notifications are sent to the interested parties. (On a bulk change of request statuses no notifications are sent — see Requests.)
In the current version of LogiFlow the transitions between statuses are not hard-restricted — a record can be moved from any status to any other and back. Logic such as "you cannot return from 'Issued' to 'New request'" is a matter of the employees' discipline, not of the system.
Can a status be deleted
A status can be deleted from the directory, but you will not be able to delete a status that is in use — that is, one referred to by at least one request/shipment or by a record in the status change history. Move such records to another status first.
Common mistakes when configuring statuses
- "I created a second 'default' status." Only one is allowed (for shipments — one per type). The system will not let you save the second one.
- "The 'Order' does not match." The order must be unique within the company — set different values.
- "The status will not delete." It is used in records or in the history. Reassign the records first.
- "The new record was created with the wrong status." On manual creation the status is chosen by the user; the "default" flag is applied automatically only on copying.
What's next
- Requests and Shipments — where the statuses are used.
- Analytics — reports on the statuses and the standard time.
- User management — who has the right to change and configure the statuses.