The wrong variant ships
3000K and 4000K look the same on a pick list that only says “downlight 12W”. The difference is found on site, by the electrician.
Lighting & Electrical
Every variant by its spec. Every project delivered in full.
Lighting and electrical distributors sell thousands of items that differ by a wattage, a colour temperature or an IP rating, often into projects where one missing line holds up a site. OrbitWix keeps the specification on the item and the project on one order, so what is short is known before the truck leaves.
The problem
Where lighting and electrical supply goes wrong.
The products are not complicated. There are just very many of them, and the customer usually needs all of them at once.
Project orders arrive in pieces
A fit-out needs the whole floor’s worth. Lines go out as stock allows, and nobody can say what is still owed to the project.
Shortfalls are found at loading
Nobody checks the project against stock when it is confirmed, so the gap appears on the morning the truck is due.
Cable is sold by the metre, stocked by the drum
Cut lengths leave offcuts nobody records. The system says 500 m on the drum; the drum says 380.
Typical workflow
How a project order runs.
One order for the whole project, however many deliveries it takes. What is still owed is a figure on the order, not a list in someone’s notebook.
A project order moves through six stages: quotation, confirmed order, part allocation, first delivery, backorder from the supplier and final delivery.
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01 Quotation
SO-2026-0221
Sent
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02 Order
SO-2026-0221
Confirmed
-
03 Allocation
SO-2026-0221
40 short
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04 Delivery 1
SO-2026-0221
Delivered
-
05 Backorder
SO-2026-0221
Received
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06 Delivery 2
SO-2026-0221
Complete
The solution
What OrbitWix puts in place.
Six parts, all hanging off the project order and the item specification.
Items told apart by specification
Wattage, colour temperature, IP rating, finish and brand as attributes on the item, so a variant is chosen, picked and checked by its spec.
Project orders
One order for the project, delivered in as many drops as the site needs, with the balance owed always on the order.
Shortfalls raised against supply
A line the stock cannot cover becomes a purchase request linked to the project, so the buyer knows who is waiting.
Contractor and project pricing
Contractor, trade and project price lists with validity dates, so the order carries the price the quotation gave.
Cable by the metre
Drums held as batches and sold by the metre, each cut recorded against the drum it came from.
Delivery to site
A delivery note per drop, addressed to the site and its contact, with proof of what arrived.
Example
A fit-out, start to finish.
An illustration of one project order through a week. The names are made up; the sequence is the ordinary one.
- Mon 09:10 A contractor confirms the quotation for four lines — two downlight variants, emergency fittings and 1,200 m of cable. It becomes one sales order, SO-2026-0221.
- Mon 09:12 Stock covers three lines in full and 80 of the 120 warm-white downlights. The short 40 become a purchase request linked to the project.
- Tue 07:30 First delivery to site: everything available, on one delivery note. The order shows 40 downlights still owed.
- Thu 15:00 The supplier delivers. The 40 are received and reserved for Marina Tower before anyone else can sell them.
- Fri 08:00 Second delivery completes the project. Each delivery was invoiced as it went, so the contractor’s balance matches the site.
Visibility
Reports you read, and work you stop doing.
Both read the same records the work is done on, so neither needs an export to stay current.
Reports
- Open project linesWhat each project is still owed, by line and by promised date.
- Backorders by supplierWhich supplier is holding up which project.
- Margin by projectQuoted against delivered, after any price changes in between.
- Slow-moving variantsThe finishes and colour temperatures nobody is buying.
- Drum and cut-length stockMetres remaining on every drum, not the length it arrived with.
Automation
- A shortfall on a confirmed order raises a purchase request for the balance
- Stock received against a project is reserved for that project
- A watch on every open project, raised when the delivery date is close and lines are still owed Early access
Items marked early access run on Watcher, which is still being finished.
Recommended apps
Where to start.
Most lighting and electrical distributors start with these four on the Core OS, and add Logistics or Finance when they are ready.
Sales
Project orders, contractor price lists and quotations that carry their validity.
Inventory
Variants by specification, drums by batch, stock per warehouse.
Purchase
Shortfalls raised against the project that needs them.
Dispatch
Staged delivery to site, with a note and proof for each drop.
FAQ
Questions from lighting and electrical distributors.
How do we manage thousands of variants?
Variants share a template with attributes — wattage, colour temperature, IP rating, finish. A new variant is a combination of attributes rather than an item typed from scratch, and you can search and pick by any of them.
Can one project order be delivered in several drops?
Yes. Each delivery is its own note against the same order, and the order shows what has gone and what is still owed. Invoicing can follow each delivery or wait for the whole project.
Can we sell cable by the metre from drums?
Yes. Cable is stocked in metres with each drum as a batch, so a cut is a movement from a specific drum and the length left on it stays right.
Do contractors get their own prices?
Price lists can be set per customer or customer group, with validity dates. A quotation takes the price that applied when it was made, and the order keeps it.
Have a different question? Talk to us.
See it run one of your projects.
Bring a project order you supplied last quarter. We will show what was owed at each point, and when the system would have said so.