Units

Introduction

Units of Measure are often a source of confusion in manufacturing environments. Units can relate to purchasing (pallets, cases, bags), manufacturing (lb, kg), and finished goods (cases, packs).

V5 Traceability allows all units to be listed and rationalized to a base unit of measure. This allows maximum flexibility for purchasing and manufacturing.

The use of Units of Measure in V5 Traceability can be managed in the ‘Units’ section of the Control Center. These units, and their associated conversion rates, will then be used by the system to allow the use of a diverse range of units to be used interchangeably at the various stages of production.

This module guide will look at how we can set units up and how they are then managed by the system.

1. Units Setup
2. Units in the Warehouse
3. Additional Commodity Conversion Rates
4. Units in Reports

The first place to begin would be the ‘base unit’. This is defined as the first unit created on the ‘Units’ table in the database, and would usually be the most commonly used Unit of Measure used by the client. This will then be used to calculate the value of other units in relation to this base value. The base unit will always be assigned the value of 1.

Initial setup of Units of Measure within V5 Traceability will more often than not be handled by SG Systems in conjunction with the client when the system is first implemented.

Further units can then be added and have their conversion rates defined. When we add a conversion rate for a unit, we are essentially asking ‘how many of these are in the base unit?’

If, for example, we are using kilograms (kg) as our base unit, we would create grams (g) with a conversion rate of 1000, because there are 1,000 grams in a kilogram. Similarly, if we wanted to input pounds (lb), we would use a conversion rate of 2.20462. Additional units can be added to cover every type of UoM that the warehouse would come across as it operates, and the system will perform unit conversion across a range of different tasks/situations.

Note: when configuring scales for weighing in WMS/Terminal, it is essential that the ‘Code’ set here when setting up units is the code that is assigned to the scale.

Receiving

When receiving orders of commodities in WMS, each commodity will generally be received in the UoM that it is assigned in ‘Commodities‘. If however we are dealing with a supplier who supplies a commodity in a different UoM, this can se set up in ‘Sales Orders‘ when adding the commodity to the order. The system will then perform a conversion calculation.

This can be expanded further if the commodity is assigned a bulk unit (see below). If this is set up, we can receive by number of bulk units and the system will perform the appropriate calculation to complete the order.

Batching

Units and their conversion rates come into play if we are batching/creating products that utilize commodities with different UoMs. As an example we could have:

• A formula step with a target unit in kg.
• The commodity for this step has it’s base unit set in lb.
• A scale that weighs in grams.
• A formula that is produced in oz.

Were this situation occur, the system would use the conversion rates quoted in Control Center to provide a seamless batching experience for the Terminal operator, and will ask for them to weigh in the UoM that their scale is configured for (in this case grams).

Additional commodity-specific conversion rates can be added to the system as required. This is useful when different commodities that use the same UoM don’t actually weight the same. A good example of this is fluid ounces (fl oz).

If we take 2 example commodities here, 1 fl oz of water weighs 29.57g and 1 fl oz of milk weighs 30.46g. To make the system take this into account, we would create a new Unit with code ‘fl oz’, call it ‘Fluid Ounce’. If we then take water as the base reference point for fluid ounces, we would enter a conversion rate of 0.02957.

With this row then selected in the top panel, we would then go to the bottom panel and create a new entry for milk. We would then enter a conversion rate for milk as 0.03946. Once this is complete, if water is handled this will use the default fluid oz conversion rate (0.02957). If milk is handled however, the conversion rate entered against this (0.03046) will override the default value in the top panel and be used instead for the fluid ounce conversion.

We can use the JasperSoft reporting suite to generate a ‘Commodity Unit Conversions’ report. This report will detail all the commodities and formulas in the system database, and compare their unit conversion against the system’s base unit (see above). It will also list any changes made to a commodity/formula’s default unit of measure, as well as the user who made this change.

More information on this type of report can be found here.