# Review a tool's lifecycle history

Trace everything a tool has been through — movements, assemblies, posted costs, and recorded lives — from one record.

Source: https://support.toolingmetrics.com/en/production/guides/review-tool-lifecycle-history/
Updated: 2026-10-29

**Prerequisites:** The tool has been in use — picked, transferred, or run on machines. New tools have empty history tabs.

**Required permission:** Production → Tools — User or above; Inventory → Serialized Items — User or above to trace a piece. A User sees only the records they created.

Every tool record keeps its full history in tabs. Together they answer the lifecycle questions: where has it been, what was it built from, what has it cost, and how long has it lasted.

## Open the history tabs

1. In the sidebar, click **Production → Tools** and open the tool.
1. Work through the tabs across the top of the record:

| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| **Cutting Edges** | The cutting edges fitted to the tool and their current condition. |
| **Items List** | The items currently mounted in this tool, with quantity and condition. |
| **Assembly History** | Every assembly and disassembly event — which items went in or out, and when. |
| **Moves History** | Every movement — storage to machine, machine to assembly station, and back — with dates and the user who validated each move. |
| **Usage History** | Every usage cost line posted for this tool's items on machines. |
| **Life History** | Recorded tool lives — runtime accumulated per life and the condition the tool ended each life in. |

![Tool T000004 record with Overview, Cutting Edges, Items List, Assembly History, Moves History, Usage History, and Life History tabs.](https://support.toolingmetrics.com/guides/tool-lifecycle-eng.webp)

*Fig. 1: The tool record tabs — each one is a different lens on the same physical tool's history.*

## Read the lifecycle from the tabs

1. **Where has it been?** Open **Moves History**. Reading bottom-up gives the tool's full journey since creation.
1. **What was it built from?** Open **Assembly History**. Each cutting edge replacement shows as a disassembly of the worn item and assembly of the new one.
1. **What has it cost?** Open **Usage History**. The sum of cost lines is the tool's accumulated usage cost; each line names the machine that consumed it.
1. **How long does it last?** Open **Life History** and compare each recorded life against its life limit. A new entry is added — and Usage Life resets to zero — every time a cutting edge is removed from the tool. Consistently short lives point to cutting parameters or assembly problems; see [Record Runtime](https://support.toolingmetrics.com/en/production/guides/record-runtime/) for how lives accumulate.

![Tool T000004 Moves History table showing references, dates, move types, source and destination, status, and quantities.](https://support.toolingmetrics.com/guides/tool-moves-eng.webp)

*Fig. 2: Moves History shows each movement's reference, date, type, source, destination, status, and quantity.*

## Trace a serialized item across tools

High-value serialized items (e.g., precision holders) outlive any single tool assembly. To follow one across its whole service life:

1. In the sidebar, click **Inventory → Serialized Items** and open the item by serial number.
1. The Overview shows current status and remaining value; **Moves History** shows every tool, machine, and service order it has passed through; **Usage History** shows every cost posted against it.

## Notes

- The **Comments & History** panel at the bottom of the tool record adds the human trail — status changes and user comments with timestamps.
- For condition semantics (*Uncut*, *Used*, *Pre-warning*, *Warning*, *Expired*, *Broken*), see [Tools Reference](https://support.toolingmetrics.com/en/production/reference/tools/).
- Batch-level (non-serialized) items aggregate their history on the item record itself — open **Inventory → Items → Moves History** for the batch view.