How Do I Create a Parts Order Form?

For supported suppliers, you can automatically place an order for the parts you need with the menu item

Tools -> Place Order. If you are on the Costing page, you can also use the Toolbar button

Order ().

If your supplier is supported, you will be prompted for the ordering information needed to send a parts order

directly to your supplier. You can choose to create an email to

send to your supplier, or you can save the order as a file to send yourself or to archive.

Your design must contain at least one part from a particular supplier in order to activate the ordering function for that supplier. Only parts from loaded catalogs can be ordered. Note that not all cost items will necessarily be included in the order form - for example user cost items are not included in the order, nor are any parts that are not in the active catalog. There is not always a one-to-one correspondence between parts in the costing spreadsheet and in your supplier's order form. Some parts in the order form may represent multiple items in the costing table, or vice-versa. Your design may undergo more rigorous checking when being analysed for an order, and additional faults or inconsistencies may be reported at this stage.

Excluding Parts From an Order

Cost items that have been hidden using the Hide Items button () or the Filter Items button () in the Costing page are excluded from any orders

placed with the Place Orders tool.

Maintaining an Order Trail

Items that have been ordered will automatically remember their order status, are marked as Ordered in the Costing page, and show the date they were ordered on. The Costing context menu item Order Info displays all the information about the order so that you can maintain a comprehensive order trail. You can also manually mark any cost item as ordered, and manually edit the order dates.

Managing Stock

You can manage your parts stock inventory with the Costing page columns In Stock, Dispatched, and Date Dispatched. Right-click on the Costing column header row to bring up the Columns Visible menu to turn these columns on or off.