InvenTree

Start by arranging parts in categories and linking the supplier items used to buy them. In the purchasing model, a supplier part is a vendor-supplied item tied to an InvenTree part, so the purchase record can connect back to the internal catalog.

Create a purchase order for supplier parts and mark the delivered line items received. InvenTree converts received items into stock items. A receiving location is required; an order destination can provide a default, while a line-item location takes precedence.

For trackable parts, serial numbers can be entered when items arrive, creating a separate serialized stock item per unit. If serial numbers are left blank, the received quantity becomes one nonserialized stock item, so choose the receipt method to match the traceability needed.

Stock items sit in nested locations and sublocations. The software can show stock for a particular part and location, and its tracking history records who adjusted an item, when, and by how much, including receipt, allocation and build-consumption events.

Read the quantity labels carefully: In Stock describes physical units, including those already allocated. Available subtracts allocated units. Allocating stock therefore reduces what is available for a new commitment before the physical In Stock count changes.

A bill of materials lists the components required to make an assembly. A build order can allocate those components from stock, manually or automatically, then subtract the consumed quantities as the build is completed.