> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.assetinfinity.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# The asset lifecycle

> From planned to disposed — every asset state, what it means, and the moves allowed between them.

An asset has a life: it is bought, commissioned, run, repaired, eventually retired. The **status**
records where in that life it is right now.

These are the defaults. Like every lifecycle in the product, they are
[configurable](/config/statuses).

## The states

| Status                | Meaning                                              |
| --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| **Planned**           | Ordered or budgeted. Not yet on site                 |
| **Standby**           | On site, not in service. A spare, or held in reserve |
| **Active**            | In service. The normal state                         |
| **Under Maintenance** | Deliberately out of service for work                 |
| **Down**              | Out of service because it broke. Counts as downtime  |
| **Retired**           | Taken out of service permanently. Still on the books |
| **Disposed**          | Gone. Sold, scrapped or written off                  |

## Down against Under Maintenance

The difference matters, and it is the one people get wrong.

* **Under Maintenance** — you chose to stop it. Planned work.
* **Down** — it stopped on you. This is what counts as **downtime**, and what availability and MTBF
  are computed from.

Taking a machine off line for a preventive round and marking it *Down* will make your availability
figures worse than the plant actually is.

## Allowed moves

```text theme={null}
Planned ─┬─Receive──→ Standby ─┬─Put into service──→ Active
         └─Commission─────────────────────────────→ Active

Active ─┬─Take for maintenance──→ Under Maintenance ──Return to service──→ Active
        ├─Report breakdown──────→ Down ─┬─Begin repair──→ Under Maintenance
        │                               └─Restore──────→ Active
        ├─Move to standby───────→ Standby
        └─Retire────────────────→ Retired ──Dispose──→ Disposed

Standby ──Retire──→ Retired
```

<Note>
  **Retire** and **Dispose** require approval, and are irreversible. An asset with open work orders
  cannot be retired — clear the work first.
</Note>

## Where states get changed

* **On the asset**, from the action bar.
* **From a work order** — reporting a breakdown against a machine takes it Down; returning it to
  service brings it back.
* **From the field app**, where a technician can put a machine down or return it to service at the
  machine.

Every change is recorded on the asset's **Lifecycle** tab with who made it and when.

## Retirement and replacement

[Reliability](/assets/reliability) is where the argument for retiring a machine gets made: cost to
maintain against cost to replace, failure count against the rest of the fleet, and a recommendation
you can accept or dismiss.


## Related topics

- [Inside an asset](/assets/detail.md)
- [The work order lifecycle](/work/lifecycle.md)
- [Inside a work order](/work/work-order-detail.md)
- [Creating an organisation](/setup/sign-up.md)
- [Core concepts](/core-concepts.md)