How Fixably tracks a spare part — from the moment it is needed on a repair, through ordering via your Apple GSX integration and delivery, to installation and (if needed) return to Apple.

This guide is tailored to your setup: you order Apple parts through the GSX integration, you don’t use the depot “Part Requests” workflow, and you sell some retail products whose stock you manage outside Fixably (see the “Retail products” section).

1. The four building blocks: Devices, Parts, Products & Stocks

Before statuses make sense, it helps to know the four things Fixably keeps track of. They are easy to mix up.

A part on a repair order is called an order line. Everything in this guide about “spare-part statuses” is really about the status of an order line — the specific part attached to a specific repair. The same physical part in your warehouse is tracked separately as a stock quantity.

Stock types you’ll meet

DOA and Core-return stocks are “quarantine” locations — Fixably deliberately keeps them out of the normal picking and receiving screens so those parts are never accidentally reused.

2. The significance of spare-part statuses

Every spare part on an order carries a status. The status is not just a label — it drives real behaviour:

• It tells everyone where the part is in its journey (needed, on order, arrived, handed to the technician, returned…).
• It decides whether the part counts as “reserved”. Some statuses reduce your available quantity so the same part can’t be promised to two repairs at once. Others (like “Draft”) deliberately do not reserve anything yet.
• It drives the work queues. The “Parts Pending Purchase” and “Incoming Goods” screens are built by filtering on these statuses.
• It controls what you can do next. Fixably only allows sensible status changes, which keeps the process clean.

The key idea — Available quantity = physical quantity − quantity already reserved (in use). A part can be physically on the shelf but not available, because it’s already reserved for another repair. When availability surprises you, a reservation elsewhere is almost always why.

3. The spare-part journey, stage by stage

Below is the natural life of a spare part on a repair. Not every part passes through every stage — a part already on your shelf skips the whole ordering section.

Stage 1 — The part is added to the repair

Draft — the part has been added, but the technician isn’t yet committed to using it. Draft parts are ignored by ordering lists and stock calculations. Nothing is reserved. A safe “maybe”.

Stage 2 — The part is confirmed (is it in stock?)

• Confirmed, in stock — the part is available and has been reserved for this repair. It now reduces your available quantity.
• Pending purchase — the part is needed but not available, so it must be ordered. This is the status the Parts Pending Purchase work list keys on.

Stage 3 — Ordering the part (if it wasn’t in stock)

• Being ordered — the part has been added to a purchase order that hasn’t yet been placed.
• Parts ordered — a purchase order for the part has been placed (for Apple work, through GSX). You are now waiting for delivery.

Stage 4 — The part arrives and reaches the technician

• Parts arrived — the purchase order has been received, and the part is now physically in stock. For GSX-ordered parts, Fixably sets this automatically when the goods are received.
• Delivered to Technician — the part has been picked and handed to the technician for the repair.

Stage 5 — After the repair: unused or faulty parts

Sometimes a part isn’t used, or turns out to be faulty. See the “Returns to Apple” section below.

4. Purchase Orders & the GSX integration

A Purchase Order (PO) is Fixably’s record of parts you’ve ordered from a supplier or from Apple.

The normal flow is Draft → Open → Closed, with the option to cancel (Deleted) from Open. A PO closes automatically once every line has been received and any linked repair is closed.

Ordering Apple parts through GSX

Because you use the GSX integration, most of this is automatic:

• When a part is needed on a GSX repair, Fixably creates and updates the purchase order automatically as it syncs with GSX — you don’t create these by hand.
• The order-line status keeps step with Apple: it moves to Parts ordered when ordered and Parts arrived when the goods are received.
• Apple may substitute an equivalent part — the part shipped can differ from the one requested. Fixably links the PO line to the order line correctly even when the part number changes, so there’s nothing to reconcile by hand.

Manual Purchase Orders (for non-Apple parts)

For anything not ordered through GSX — third-party parts, or a product you simply want to receive by hand:

• Go to Purchase Orders → Open → Manual Purchase Order.
• Optionally enter a Purchase Order number (or leave it blank for Fixably to generate one) and a Reference number for your own notes.
• If the product is for a specific repair, fill in the Order Number — Fixably will then update that order automatically with serial numbers and other details when you receive the part.
• Use Search and add products to look up the part(s) by part number, then Receive Selected. If a product has serial-number tracking, you’ll be prompted to enter the serial number.

5. Receiving parts into stock

Parts must be received before they can be used on a repair. Receiving turns “a part on order” into “a part physically in your inventory”.

1. From the sidebar choose Stocks → Incoming Goods.
2. Select Receive with barcode.
3. Search by Order, GSX Repair Number, Tracking number or Purchase Order Number.
4. Scan or enter the part number and, if applicable, the serial number.
5. Click Receive.

When you receive a part, its stock quantity is created or increased (with cost recorded), the PO line is marked received, the order line advances to Parts arrived, and serial/IMEI numbers are carried onto the order automatically. Receiving only part of an ordered quantity leaves the line open on Incoming Goods until the rest arrives.

Non-physical products (software, service fees, labour, diagnostics) are received automatically when they’re added — there’s nothing to physically receive.

6. Retail products you sell separately (product type “Other”)

You sell some retail products (accessories, chargers, cases and similar) whose stock you do not manage inside Fixably. For these, use the product type Other.

Product type Other behaves differently from a spare part on purpose:

• It is not stock-managed. Fixably does not track a quantity on hand for “Other” products, and they are not serial-number tracked. Selling one does not decrease a Fixably stock count.
• It does not carry the spare-part status lifecycle. An “Other” product added to an order does not go through Pending purchase → Parts ordered → Parts arrived. There’s no reserving and no Incoming Goods step — it’s simply added to the order for sale/invoicing.
• You can still put it on a purchase order if you ever want a paper trail, but there’s no stock to receive it into.

Rule of thumb: if you want Fixably to tell you “how many do I have left?” → it must be a stockable type (Product / Module / Replacement). If you just want to add it to a customer’s bill → Other is the right choice.

7. Returns to Apple: DOA, GPR, Accidental Damage & Core returns

When a part shouldn’t stay in the repair, Fixably tracks why and manages the return to Apple.

Each return type moves through up to three steps you’ll see in the status: Marked as… → Return requested as… → (completed) Marked as…. Fixably stamps the correct GSX return code (DOA / GPR / SDOA) when these features are enabled.

Note: a DOA part is still received into stock first, and only then transferred to the DOA stock — this keeps your receiving records accurate.

8. Keeping stock topped up: low-stock alerts & reorder suggestions

Fixably can warn you before you run out and help you reorder in a few clicks. (This applies to your stockable parts — not to “Other” retail products, which aren’t stock-managed.)

• Minimum quantity — set a minimum on a product to make it your reorder point. When on-hand stock drops to or below the minimum, Fixably emails your stock managers (once) and marks the product red in the Products list when it falls below.
• Desired quantity — your “reorder up to” level. The Reorder suggestions screen uses it to calculate how many units to suggest. If you don’t set one, Fixably uses the minimum as the target.
• Per-stock overrides — different minimum/desired levels for individual stock locations, falling back to the product default.
• Reorder suggestions screen — review low items and create draft purchase orders grouped by vendor. Suggested quantity to order = desired − on hand − already on order (never below zero).

If a product is below its minimum but doesn’t appear on the Reorder suggestions screen, check three things: the product is linked to the vendor you selected, the right stock is selected, and the suggested quantity to order is above zero.

9. Quick status reference

Look up any spare-part status you see on an order line. The Reserved? column tells you whether that status reduces your available quantity.

10. Frequently asked questions

Why is a part showing as “Pending purchase” when I have it in stock?
The part probably isn’t available — the physical unit is already reserved for another repair, or it’s in a stock that isn’t being counted for this order (for example a DOA or Core-return stock). Check availability on the product and whether another order has it reserved.

Do I have to receive a part before using it?
Yes. A part must be received into stock before it can be picked/dispatched for a repair. Until then it stays on Incoming Goods.

A purchase order won’t close. Why?
A PO closes automatically only when every required line has been received. If you received a partial quantity, the line stays open until the rest arrives. A linked repair may also need to be closed first.

We sell chargers and cases but don’t want Fixably counting them — how?
Set those products to type Other. Fixably will let you add and invoice them on an order but won’t track their stock or put them through the spare-part status flow.

Who gets the low-stock email?
Your stock managers, once, when a product drops to or below its minimum quantity.

Related knowledge-base articles

• What are the differences between Products, Parts, Devices and Stocks?
• How do I use Manual Purchase Orders?
• How do I receive parts into Stock?
• Set up low-stock alerts and reorder suggestions
• How do I use Fixably to mark a Part as DOA in GSX?
• What are Orders?