Unit of Measure Conversion
Every item has a unit of measure (UM). The UM is a code identifying how the item is stocked in inventory (e.g., DZ), planned, and costed. The system default UM is EA (each). Some UM uses:
• Inventory balances
• Product structures
• Manufacturing orders
• Planning
• Reporting
If an item is handled differently (for example, in quantities of each versus a dozen), you can set up an alternate unit of measurement for purchasing, sales, or inventory transactions.
Unit of Measure Maintenance
Use to set up a permanent alternate unit of measure. Alternate units of measure can be global or item-specific. You can use one unit of measure for one item and a different one for another item. If you want, you can say that for all items, DZ = 12 EA, but for doughnuts, DZ = 13 EA.
All inventory and planning reports use this unit of measure.
Leaving the Item Number field blank allows you to specify the conversion to the alternate UM for any item number
• When you specify an item number, the conversion to the alternate UM is only for the specified item number
A conversion factor identifies how many stockkeeping units equal one unit of an alternate unit of measure.
The conversion factor/formula for an alternate unit of measure is:
STANDARD UM x CONVERSION = ALTERNATE UM
Example: GM x 1000 = KG
When an inventory transaction uses an alternate unit of measure, the system looks for a match in the unit of measure conversion table as follows:
1 Item number, item unit of measure, transaction unit of measure
2 Item unit of measure, transaction unit of measure, (item number <blank>)
If the system does not find a conversion factor, it uses a default of 1. You can override this manually.
Note: Purchase Order UM should be the same as the supplier’s invoice UM to avoid accounts payable variances caused by different Units of Measure.
Exercise 6: Unit of Measure Conversion
Instructions: For inventory purposes, some items may be stocked and used in kilograms (kg). However, these items are occasionally purchased by the pound (lb).
Note: The data used in this exercise may not be the same as the data shown in the screens in this lesson.
Create a global unit of measure conversion to convert pounds to kilograms
1 Use Unit of Measure Maintenance (1.13).
Field | Data |
Unit of Measure | kg |
Alternate UM | lb. |
Item Number | <blank> |
UM Conversion | 0.4545 |
Create a global unit of measure conversion to convert kilograms to pounds
2 Use Unit of Measure Maintenance (1.13).
Field | Data |
Unit of Measure | lb. |
Alternate UM | kg |
Item Number | <blank> |
UM Conversion | 2.2 |
Review the existing unit of measure codes on your database
3 Use Unit of Measure Browse (1.14).
The code you just created should display.
