Dealing with equipment tied to unfinished customer work
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Link every unfinished customer job to the equipment it still needs before releasing machines into a closure sale. An asset can look available because it is idle today while remaining necessary for completion, inspection or agreed remedial work.
This is a dependency exercise. Decisions about completing, transferring or ending customer commitments belong with the responsible business people and advisers, using the actual contracts and circumstances.
Use one row per job-and-asset dependency
| Field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Job reference | Internal reference and responsible commercial contact |
| Current stage | Work completed and work still outstanding |
| Asset required | Identified machine, tool, inspection item or support equipment |
| Reason it is needed | Specific remaining operation or requirement |
| Alternative proposed | Any different route that still needs approval |
| Release condition | What must be confirmed before this asset can leave the dependency list |
| Decision owner | Person authorised to confirm the commercial and operational position |
| Review date | When the status will be checked again |
A job may need several rows, and one machine may support several jobs. Keep both relationships visible. A machine is not clear for release merely because one of its jobs has finished.
Include the last few awkward tasks
Look for inspection, rework, packing and customer acceptance steps as well as production. Ask the people handling those tasks what equipment they still need and what evidence will show the requirement has ended.
For example, a fictional order may be fully machined but still awaiting a dimensional check. Selling the inspection equipment because the production machines have stopped would overlook that final dependency. The responsible team should confirm the requirement or an agreed alternative.
Connect the sheet to the final production and release schedule. The schedule shows asset availability; this sheet explains the customer-work conditions behind it.
Check ownership and stock separately
Some tooling or materials tied to a job may belong to the customer. Use the customer-property guide so those items are not mistaken for assets that become saleable when the job closes.
Use the remaining stock and work-in-progress map for unfinished goods and materials. A change to the customer-work plan can change both the stock's status and the machine's release date, so update the relevant records together.
Give the sale manager confirmed instructions
Mark proposed dates as provisional while decisions remain outstanding. If a buyer asks for an earlier collection, refer the request to the named decision owner rather than treating it as permission to bypass the dependency.
Use the role-allocation guide when the question spans commercial, legal and operational responsibilities. Share only the customer information needed for the sale, through the appropriate channels.
UK Auction Group can discuss a timetable based on confirmed equipment availability. Supply the release conditions and expected review dates, so marketing and collection assumptions do not get ahead of the decisions about unfinished work.
Explore the retirement and closure guides.
Sources
This guide gives general information. Equipment-specific, legal, tax and safety decisions may need a qualified adviser or competent specialist. The guides do not promise sale prices, fees or results.