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OrderStream has the capabilities of maintaining multiple Units of Measure (UOM) for one part.
For example:
BEER may be measured in milliliters, but it can be bought in individual bottles or cans, 6-packs, 12-packs, cases, kegs. Using this example let’s see how the UOM Conversions can be used to setup all these scenarios.
When the initial item BEER is setup in the database from within item editor, the user must pick a Stock UOM. This is the unit of measure that item would normally be stocked in. All conversion calculations will be done against this Stock UOM.
To create a UOM Conversion entry into the item editor:
1. Select the Inventory tab from the OrderStream profile bar,
2. Followed by the Item Editor icon and then,
3. Select the UOM Conversion (Ctrl + U) option from the Edit menu of the Item Editor.
The UOM form opens with some information already filled in at the top. This information is simply the item number, description and stocking UOM. It is against this stock UOM that all the conversion calculations will be performed.
To demonstrate let us create a UOM Conversion that will take the BEER item which is stocked in mL and tell the system how many of these mL are in a Bottle
| 1. | Left Click on the blank area in the TO section and then press the Insert key on your keyboard |
| 2. | Select an operator, (the option are subtract, add, divide, and multiply). In the case of converting a mL of beer to a bottle of beer you would choose Divide. |
| 3. | Enter the factor, (this is basically how much of the alternate UOM you want applied against the original UOM, taking into account the operator you picked). There are 341mL in a bottle of beer; therefore the Factor in this case is 341. |
| 4. | Select the new UOM. In this case it would be Bottle. |
| 5. | Click on the Save button located in the bottom left corner of the form |
The results of doing the steps outlined above are as seen in the following image. Notice that the calculation that was done is shown at the bottom of the form, (1 mL = 0.0029 Bottle).
To ensure that this calculation is correct it is possible to use the sample number field found in the From section at the top of the form. Into this field enter the number of stock UOMs that should equal 1 of the new UOMs that you just created. In this case 341mL should equal 1 Bottle, therefore enter 341 into the Sample Number field.
Doing this will adjust the calculation numbers below to give you a more readable result.
You can continue to add new UOM conversions against this item by simply pressing your Insert button on the keyboard. A more complete UOM conversion setup for the item BEER would look as shown below.
Now that the UOMs for the item BEER have been setup it is possible to sell BEER in any one of these UOMs very easily.
Unit Of Measure Conversion Rounding Accuracy
The ability to switch between multiple unit of measure (UOM) conversions with no conversion discrepancies depends on the resulting values from the unit of measure calculation. If the resulting value is not a whole number, but is instead a number featuring a repeating fractional value, changing an item's unit of measure from UOM A to UOM B then back to UOM A may not produce initially entered using UOM A. This is due to the number of decimals in the calculated value exceeding the number of decimals places permitted for the module in question established on the form specific tab of application preferences.
To illustrate this behaviour we will use item number GCL-300015 as an example,
GCL-300015 is a piece of clear annealed glass with a stock unit of measure of each (EA). It can be purchased using a unit of measure of EA, but it can also be purchased by the block (BLK), so a unit of measure conversion has been setup for BLK. There are 107 EA in 1 BLK. GCL-300015 is priced by the square foot (SQFT), so a unit of measure has been setup for SQFT. There are 65 SQFT in 1 EA. On the form specific tab of application preferences, the purchase order module has been setup to display 4 decimal places.
A purchase order has been created for GCL-300015. The quantity ordered is entered as 50 EA. The UOM to SQFT correctly calculates the quantity to cost as 3,250.0000. The actual calculation is 50 * 65 = 3250.
Changing the UOM ordered selection to BLK will convert the quantity ordered to be expressed in BLK. The actual calculation is 50 / 107 = 0.46728971962616822429906542056075. However, since the purchase order module has been set to display only 4 decimal places this value will be rounded to 0.4673.
When re-selecting EA as the UOM ordered, the system will use the rounded value to recalculate and express the quantity ordered in EA. Thus the calculation used is 0.4673 * 107 = 50.0011.
In this scenario, if the desired UOM ordered is EA, the user must reenter 50 into the quantity ordered field.
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