A reason code represents a piece of information or standard explanation for an action. A specific reason code is a standard representation of a declaration made to help explain a decision, problem, or task that is occurring for the performed action. The ability to create customer-specific reason codes for a category supports flexibility without the need for an application extension.

The categories allow reason codes to be defined and then collected. The ability to define and then collect a reason code for a category assists in the data analysis during continuous improvement in manufacturing. This standard code gathers information in a standard format which is easier to analyze than a free-form comment.