> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.firstresonance.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Purchasing and Supply Chain Specialists

> How purchasing and supply chain teams use ION: POs, receiving, inventory, supplier data, and feeding real consumption signal into MRP.

## What ION does for you

You buy the parts that the factory consumes, and you do it in the same system the factory builds in. That means real consumption, actual run-by-run usage, not stale snapshots, flows directly into MRP and reorder logic. Receiving feeds inventory, inspection drives supplier scorecards, and the issues raised on the floor against a specific lot are visible to you when you talk to that supplier next.

Day-to-day you'll work POs and receiving, manage inventory locations and transactions, and watch supplier performance signals coming back from production.

## Where to start

1. **[Purchasing](/manage-supply-chain/purchasing)**: purchase orders, approvals, supplier records.
2. **[Receiving](/manage-supply-chain/receiving)**: receipt against POs, inspection, and turning shipments into part inventory.
3. **[Inventory](/manage-supply-chain/inventory)**: locations, lots, serials, transactions, and the merging/splitting/transferring you'll do daily.
4. **[Kitting](/manage-supply-chain/kitting)**: pulling parts ahead of a run.

## The handful of pages that matter most

| Page                                                                                                 | Why it matters to you                                                                     |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Purchase Order Approvals](/manage-supply-chain/purchasing/purchase-orders/purchase-order-approvals) | Multi-step approval flows for higher-value buys                                           |
| [Receiving and Inspection](/manage-supply-chain/receiving)                                           | The handoff from supplier shipment to usable inventory                                    |
| [Inventory Merging](/manage-supply-chain/inventory/inventory-merging)                                | Combining like inventory and the constraints                                              |
| [Alternates and Substitutes](/build-hardware/bills-of-materials/substitutes)                         | Letting the floor consume an approved alternate without a deviation, saves you firefights |
| [Issues and NCRs](/track-quality/issues)                                                             | Quality events on supplier parts: your scorecard input                                    |
| [API reference](/api-reference)                                                                      | Pulling consumption data into your existing reporting                                     |

<Tip>
  * **Pre-configure alternates.** If two supplier part numbers are interchangeable for an assembly, configure them as alternates on the BOM. Otherwise every "we ran out, used the other one" is a deviation that lands on your desk.
  * **Inspect at receiving, not at install.** Floor operators discovering bad parts in the middle of a run is the most expensive way to find a quality issue. Catch it at the dock.
  * **Use serial-and-lot tracking on the parts that matter.** Critical components, traceable parts, and anything subject to recall should be lot-tracked at minimum. Untracked simplifies bookkeeping but kills traceability.
  * **Watch the supplier score, not just the PO state.** A supplier that ships on time but generates 3× the NCR rate is a problem; ION's data lets you see both axes.
</Tip>

## Related

* [Manage Supply Chain](/manage-supply-chain)
* [Build Hardware → BOMs](/build-hardware/bills-of-materials): particularly substitutes and reference designators
* [Track Quality](/track-quality): issues attached to supplier parts
* [What is ION?](/)