A single order can arrive in more than one shipment. Gaia lets you split an order into multiple deliveries, each with its own delivery date, contents, and status, so you can receive what actually shows up when it shows up.
Splitting an order
Open the order and click into the delivery (the Report delivery dialog).
Open the ⋮ menu in the top-right of the dialog.
Select Split order into multiple deliveries.
A new delivery is created. Move products into it and set its delivery date as needed.
When an order has more than one delivery, they are listed in a sidebar grouped by status so you can track each one separately.
Delivery statuses
Each delivery moves through its own lifecycle:
Draft: the delivery is being prepared.
Sent: the delivery is on its way. Use Mark Sent to move a draft to Sent. (Marking a delivery Sent is a Child Nutrition Director action.)
Received: the delivery arrived. Use Mark Received to record it. Anyone with access to that delivery's school can mark it received.
What happens when you receive a delivery
Marking a delivery Received updates your inventory automatically (a check-in, or a transfer for central-kitchen deliveries). If there is an inventory issue, for example insufficient stock at a central kitchen, the delivery can still be marked Received; the inventory problem is logged rather than blocking you.
When does the order itself show as received?
An order is only marked Received once all of its deliveries are Received. Until then it stays in progress, so a partial shipment will not prematurely close the order.