Minimum Version Required: 25.01
Pre-Conditions
When Raw Materials are Purchased in a different Unit of Measure (UoM) Type than they are Consumed as a Production Component in Production, Conversions need to be used to ensure the correct quantities of inventory are consumed at the correct cost.
**Please Note- Conversions do not need to be set up if the Products UoM Type does not change. Example: a Product can be received in Kilos then used in Pounds because those are both measurements of Mass.**
Products have been set up
Packages have been configured and assigned to Products using a UoM Type that corresponds with how the Vendor sells it. Example: If we purchase Honey in Pounds, then Honey's Package should be set to a Package where UoMType=Mass
If the Product is being converted from Units->Volume or Mass, the Volume or Weight of each of those Units need to be known to set up Conversions. Example: A Box of Puree is 5 Gallons and weighs 59.6 Pounds
Steps
Setting up Conversions
Navigate to the Product in the Products Table that needs to have a unique Package Conversion set up for it.
For Products Purchased/Received/Inventoried in Mass and Consumed in Volume:
Make sure Product's Package.UoMType=Mass
Edit the Product
Set Products.CaseWeightInLbs=1
Set Products.Ounces=however many fluid ounces are in a single pound of that Product
Save Changes
For Products Purchased/Received/Inventoried in Volume and Consumed in Mass:
Make sure Product's Package.UoMType=Volume
Edit the Product
Set Products.Ounces=1
Set Products.CaseWeightInLbs=however many pounds are in a single ounce of that Product
Save Changes
For Products Purchased/Received/Inventoried Units Consumed in Volume or Mass:
Make sure Product's Package.UoMType=Units
Edit the Product
Set Products.Ounces=however many fluid ounces are in a single Unit of that Product
Set Products.CaseWeightInLbs=however many pounds are in a single Unit of that Product
Save Changes
Once a Product is set up, the Packages Conversions table will calculate Conversions that will be used throughout the Products Inventory Lifecycle. Search the specific Product in the Packages Conversions table to make sure all Units of Measure will calculate correctly.
Fields And Definitions
Packages.UnitOfMeasure (UoM) Type: Determines whether we measure something using Mass, Volume or Units
UoM Type = Volume: Measure of the area a Product occupies; Liters, Gallons, Fluid Ounces, etc...
UoM Type = Mass: Measure of a Products Weight; Pounds, Weight Ounces, Kilograms, Grams, etc...
UoM Type = Units: When Products are received in a bound package; 3gal Box, 55gal Drum, 55lb Sac, etc...
Best Practices
Always set Packages.UoMType to the unit of measure that Vendors sell the item in
For Products we purchase in Units, exclude the weight of the container when entering CaseWeightInLbs. Example: A 55gal HDPE Food Grade Drum weighs around 20lbs. If a full Drum is weighed to determine the weight of a Product, it will be 20lbs off and skew inventory depletions.
Create a new Package record for each unique Unit that Products are received in: 5gal Bucket, 3gal Box, etc. Use the same Package for multiple Products, then set individual Product Records to the correct ounces/weight so their conversions are accurate.
Communicate with teams that manage inventory for all Products that run through conversions when we go from Receiving to Production
Use naming conventions such as a suffix on the Product Record so Users interacting with the material understand what conversions are for each Product
Minimize Packages Conversions where possible. This adds a level of complexity for these inventoried Products that can be difficult for teams to handle across the organization.