You develop hardware for clients, as a design house, a product development consultancy, or an engineering services firm. You run many projects at once, and each one needs its own BOM, its own sourcing, and a clean handoff. PartsBox keeps one component library across every project, costs each project's BOM, and keeps client work separate.
Each project starts a new spreadsheet, and the same part is entered a different way every time. There is no shared library, so part data, datasheets, and sourcing are rebuilt for each job. Costing a client's BOM means a manual pass through a distributor site, and the price is stale by the next quote.
Build one component library and reuse it across every project, so a part you researched once carries its data, datasheets, and internal part number into the next design. Import each project's BOM from KiCad, Altium, EAGLE, or CSV, match the lines to existing parts, and price the BOM from live distributor offers with price breaks, minimum order quantities, and order multiples.
Handle approved alternates the way each design needs them: group equivalent parts as a meta-part, list substitutes on a part so they apply everywhere it is used, or approve alternates on a single BOM line. PartsBox combines all three when it prices a BOM, builds a purchase list, and works out what can be built from stock, so an approved alternate is a real sourcing option, not a note in a spreadsheet column.
Manage sourcing per project, and hand manufacturing or the client a clean, priced BOM with its approved alternates. Keep each client's parts and projects separate. PartsBox manages parts, BOMs, sourcing, and stock; it is not a project management tool or a billing system.
Start on Essentials for the shared library, BOM pricing, and purchasing. Move to Production if you build prototypes or pilot runs, or to Control when several people need access with defined roles, including read-only access, and you want stock tracked by lot.