One tick is not enough
You order 40 machined brackets. 28 arrive on Tuesday, and three of those are damaged. In many shops the line gets a "received" tick, a note in a cell, or nothing at all. Two weeks later nobody is sure whether 12 or 15 are still due, and assembly finds out.
A full ERP handles this, but it is a big project for a team building one-off machines. You can get most of the benefit with a few simple habits.
Record what arrived, not just that something arrived
For every order line, keep three numbers: ordered, received and outstanding. Record each delivery as its own entry with the quantity, the date and the delivery note number. In the example: ordered 40, received 28, outstanding 12. The line stays open until the outstanding quantity is zero.
Record problems separately from quantities
Damaged, wrong or rejected parts are not received stock. Count only the accepted parts as received, and record the problem on its own: what kind (shortage, wrong item, damaged, rejected), how many pieces, when it was found and what was agreed with the supplier. When the replacement arrives, record it as a normal delivery and close the problem.
Keep the paperwork with the order line
Delivery notes, material certificates, certificates of conformity and inspection reports are needed again at FAT, at SAT and when a customer asks a question months later. Store them with the order line they belong to, not in a shared folder.
How AssembleFlow handles it
- Partial deliveries: on the Order List, the Goods received box shows ordered, received and outstanding for every line. Receive records a lot with quantity, date and a note; a line can arrive in several lots and stays "Partly received" until it is complete. The order changes to Received by itself when every line is complete.
- Delivery issues: Issues records a shortage, wrong item, damaged or rejected parts with the number of pieces, the date found and details, and you mark it settled when it is dealt with. An issue never changes the received quantity; a replacement is recorded as a normal receipt.
- Documents: attach a delivery note, material certificate, certificate of conformity, inspection report or other document to each order line, as PDF or pictures, up to 10 MB each.
What it does not do: it does not message the supplier, and there is no returns or credit-note workflow. Those stay with your normal process.
Have questions about purchasing and receiving? See the FAQ. To try it on one real machine build, ask for the three-month pilot or start a 14-day free trial.