Parts
Build useful part records that stay useful.
Part records are at the centre of SparesHaven. Learn how to create, organise, maintain, and work with the information your team needs to identify parts, understand stock, manage incoming supply, and preserve inventory history.
Part records
Understand a part record
A part record represents an inventory item that your organisation wants to identify, monitor, and manage in SparesHaven.
The record brings together the information associated with that item, including its identity, current quantity, stock thresholds, classification, location, supplier information, pricing, and supporting visual information.
Stock activity, incoming orders, and historical movements can then remain connected to the same part throughout its operational life.
Identity
Part number, description, category, and other information used to recognise the item.
Stock control
Current stock, minimum and maximum levels, and reorder information.
Operational context
Location, vendor, pricing, images, incoming stock, and related activity.
One record, one source of context
Keep information about the same inventory item together rather than creating separate records for stock, supplier information, and purchasing activity. This makes the Part Details page a useful operational reference for the team.
Creation
Create a part
Open Inventory and choose to add a new part when you need to introduce another inventory item to the workspace.
Start with a clear description and the stock information that reflects the quantity currently held. You can then add the supporting information that is useful to your operation.
A part number can be entered manually. If it is left blank, SparesHaven can assign one automatically.
Start with accurate operational information
You do not need every optional field completed before a part can be useful. A recognisable description, accurate current quantity, and sensible minimum stock level provide a strong starting point. The record can be enriched later.
Stock control
Configure stock levels
SparesHaven uses the quantity and stock thresholds on the part record to give your team useful context about the condition of inventory.
Current stock represents the quantity currently held. Minimum stock is the level used to identify inventory that may require attention.
Maximum stock and reorder quantity provide additional planning information where your organisation uses those values.
Out of stock
Current quantity is zero.
Low stock
Current quantity is positive but at or below the minimum stock level.
In stock
Current quantity is above the configured minimum.
Choose minimum levels deliberately
Minimum stock affects how SparesHaven surfaces parts that need attention. Use a level that reflects how much stock your operation can reasonably hold before replenishment should be considered.
Organisation
Organise part information
As the parts library grows, consistent supporting information makes records easier to understand and find.
Categories can group similar inventory items, while location information tells the team where stock is physically held. A vendor can be associated with the part when there is a supplier relationship you want to preserve on the record.
Pricing information can also be recorded where it is useful to your organisation.
Use information your team will actually maintain
The best inventory structure is one that remains accurate. Prefer clear categories, recognisable locations, and useful supplier information over creating unnecessary complexity.
Supporting information
Add a part image
A part image can provide a useful visual reference when a written description or part number is not enough to identify an item confidently.
Images are optional. Use them where visual identification will help the people handling, issuing, receiving, or locating the part.
Part records can also include other maintained information such as location, vendor, category, pricing, and stock-control details, helping the image remain connected to the wider operational record.
Images should help identification
A clear photograph of the actual component, packaging, label, or other identifying feature is usually more useful than a decorative image.
Details
Use Part Details
Open a part from Inventory when you need to move from scanning records to working with a specific inventory item.
The Part Details page brings the record's information and related workflows together. It provides the context needed to review the part, understand its stock position, see supplier and incoming-order information, and move into the appropriate action.
When Part Details is opened from Inventory, SparesHaven can preserve the surrounding list context so you can move to the previous or next relevant part without rebuilding your search and filters.
Inventory to find, Part Details to act
Use Inventory when you are scanning, searching, filtering, or comparing records. Open Part Details when you need to work with one particular item in more depth.
Maintenance
Edit a part
Part information will change over time. Edit the record when its description, classification, location, supplier information, stock thresholds, pricing, image, or other maintained information needs to be updated.
Editing descriptive information is different from recording normal stock activity. Day-to-day quantity changes should be captured through SparesHaven's stock workflows so the movement remains traceable.
Do not use editing as a substitute for stock movements
Receive, issue, or adjust stock through the appropriate stock workflow when the quantity changes operationally. This preserves the history of what changed and why.
Purchasing
Work with incoming stock
Incoming orders connect purchasing activity to the part that will eventually receive the stock.
Where open or partially received orders exist, SparesHaven can use that information to show that additional quantity is expected and help provide context around the part's current stock position.
When ordered stock arrives, receive it against the order rather than recording an unrelated manual stock addition. This keeps the order quantity, received quantity, remaining quantity, and resulting stock movement connected.
Keep purchasing and inventory connected
Receiving against the incoming order gives the team a clearer picture of what was ordered, what has arrived, what remains outstanding, and how the receipt affected inventory.
Traceability
Record stock activity
Once a part is in use, its quantity changes through stock activity. SparesHaven supports receiving stock, issuing stock, and making adjustments.
Each movement changes the quantity while also preserving a record of the activity. Notes can add operational context such as a work order, maintenance activity, correction, or other reason for the movement.
This gives the current quantity a history rather than leaving the team with only the latest number.
A stock figure is more useful when it has a history
Consistently recording movements helps explain how a part reached its current quantity and provides a clearer operational record for the wider team.
Lifecycle
Manage lifecycle and archiving
Part lifecycle is separate from stock status. A part can still have a quantity while no longer being considered normal active inventory.
Use obsolete when the record should remain available but the item is no longer considered part of normal active inventory.
Archive a part when it should be removed from normal operational use while preserving its record and historical context. Archived parts can be restored when they need to become available in the inventory again.
Preserve operational history
SparesHaven deliberately favours archiving over permanent deletion for part records. Inventory activity, orders, and other historical context can remain meaningful long after a part stops being used day to day.
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