An order in PartsBox records where stock came from. You create orders from a purchase list, from a single part's offers, or on the spot when you add stock, and from then on PartsBox knows the source of every part. With lot control, the order links to the specific lot that arrived; without it, the order links to the part.
When you group a purchase list by vendor, each group becomes an order carrying the offers PartsBox selected — the right SKU, quantity, and price for each line. Vendor rules decide which distributors are used, and you can split one list across several vendors when that lowers the total.
An open order stays editable: add lines, remove them, change quantities. When you change a quantity, PartsBox re-prices the line from the offer's current price breaks, so the order total stays what the vendor will actually charge. Placing the order is quick: upload the cart to the distributor by copy and paste or as a CSV file, or download the CSV to import yourself. Then mark the order placed and set an expected delivery date; the parts start counting as stock on the way. Marked in error, or the vendor fell through? Cancel, and the order returns to open and the expected stock disappears.
A part measured by length, weight, or volume is ordered in whole vendor packages — spools, reels, containers — and PartsBox converts each one into the part's own unit when it arrives, so stock stays correct.
When the delivery arrives, receive the whole order — or part of it — into a storage location with a few clicks from the order's receiving screen. Or receive line by line from the part side: the add-stock dialog offers the open order and pre-fills the quantity and price. Or scan the distributor barcodes on the bags as you unpack them, and each line is received against the right order.
Every order gets its own ID Anything™ code. Print it, stick it on the invoice or the box, and scan it later to pull the order straight up. If you place a DigiKey order with those codes in the cart, scanning the parts as they arrive receives each line against the right order automatically.
Once an order is placed, PartsBox tracks it through delivery and receiving, with the order number, your PO number, the invoice number, and any attachments — the invoice PDF where you will look for it. Orders are part of purchasing, which starts on the Essentials plan.