QAD 2017 Enterprise Edition > User Guides > Warehousing > Sizing
  
Sizing
The following topics explain how sizing and units of measure, for both items and locations, are used in the warehouse system. They also explain how you can use alternate units of measure, and set up conversions between the various units.
About Sizing and Units of Measure
Introduces Warehousing’s sizing functions.
Alternate Unit of Measure Maintenance
Describes how to use Alternate Unit of Measure Maintenance (4.5.1) to define units of measure and gives information on sizing rules.
UM Group Maintenance
Explains how to use UM Group Maintenance (4.5.5) to simplify how conversion factors are generated for different items.
UM Conversion Generation
Explains how and when to run UM Conversion Generation (4.5.10) to attach conversion factors to selected items.
Sizing and UM Reports
Lists and describes report options available which relate to Sizing and UM Maintenance.
About Sizing and Units of Measure
The sizing functions are designed to give you complete flexibility in the way you handle units of measure (UMs) relating to ordering, receipt, storage, picking, and shipping of inventory. You do not have to define your warehouses as either palletized or non-palletized. The system can handle both methods of measuring the quantities of inventory, and can easily merge palletized and non-palletized stock in the same location.
This flexibility is supported by letting you maintain sizing definitions for both individual locations and individual inventory items. In both cases, you can define a range of sizing definitions using alternate units of measure.
Example: A location sizing definition could specify that location Bulk0101 has the following capacities for item A:
 
UM
Capacity
EA (loose items)
100,000 items
P1 (Pallet type 1)
10 P1 pallets
P2 (Pallet type 2)
12 P2 pallets
The inventory sizing definition for item A specifies a base UM of EA (each), but it can also be supplied, stored, and picked in two different types of pallet. The conversion factors for these pallets are that a P1 pallet contains 10,000 of item A, and a P2 pallet contains 8,000 of item A.
When the system attempts to put away a quantity of item A in location Bulk0101, it must first examine the quantity and UM of the received inventory, and then consider the inventory records for the location that show the quantities and UMs of the items already stored in the location.
One of the key elements the system uses to perform these calculations is the sizing type.
Sizing Types
Each warehouse unit of measure has a specified sizing type. You specify this in Alternate UM Maintenance. Sizing Types lists the two possible sizing types.

Sizing Types
 
Sizing Type
Explanation
blank
This sizing type is used for basic UMs to be applied to individual items or pieces. The blank sizing type indicates either that this unit is the base UM for the item, or that a conversion factor must be applied to convert to the base UM. In the example, the UM EA would have a blank sizing type.
R (reference)
This sizing type is used for UMs that are counted as a single quantity, regardless of the actual number of items contained. In the example, the pallets P1 and P2 would have a sizing type of R. Each reference type container is assigned a reference number, which can be used to identify the record that specifies the actual quantities of inventory held in the container.
You need to be careful when defining your units of measure to make sure that you assign each UM with the correct sizing type.
Example: If you allow a carton to be split, you cannot then be sure that one carton represents 200 EA, as some may have been removed from the carton. In such cases, you would need to handle cartons like pallets, and assign a sizing type of R.
Calculating Location Capacities
When calculating location capacities and the available space in each location, the system considers both the UM and the sizing type for each inventory record in the location. Calculating capacity by simply converting every record into the base UM and then adding them all up would not create the correct results.
Taking the example location that holds 10 pallets of type P1, the situation could exist where the location contains 10 P1 pallets, each of which is part full. The total number of items in the location might be only 50,000, indicating that the location is only half full. However, if the required put-away is for another pallet, there is not any space for it.
The key element in location capacity calculations is to use a percentage full figure for each individual inventory record relating to the location. This is best understood by considering an example.
Sizing Definition for a Location
 
UM
Capacity
Sizing Type
EA (loose items)
100,000
 
P1 (Pallet type 1)
10
R
P2 (Pallet type 2)
12
R
Inventory Records for the Location
Assume that items A and B both have the same sizing definition.
 
Record
Item
Lot
Ref
Alt UM
Qty (in EA)
% Full
1
A
Lot1
67088
P1
10,000
10.00
2
A
Lot1
67090
P1
8,500
10.00
3
A
Lot1
67105
EA
30,000
30.00
4
B
 
 
EA
3,000
3.00
5
B
Lot2
67090
P1
1000
N/A
6
A
Lot1
67089
P2
9,200
8.33
Total:
 
 
 
 
 
61.33
Record 1
This record’s alternate UM is P1, and the Reference field contains a value other than the item’s default UM. This indicates that it is a pallet, which is counted as a single unit. The location can contain 10 of these pallets, so the percentage full is 10%.
Record 2
This is the same situation as Record 1, but the reference value is different, indicating a different pallet. Although the quantity of item A on this pallet is different, it still counts as 10% full (being a whole pallet).
Record 3
This record has a reference, but also has an alternate UM which is the same as the item’s default UM. This indicates that the item is stored in EA, so the percentage full is 30%.
Record 4
This record has a blank reference, indicating that the item is stored in base UM of EA. The percentage full is 3%.
Record 5
This record has the same reference as Record 2. It is a pallet, but this pallet has already been counted, so this record does not have any effect on the percentage full.
Record 6
This record has an alternate UM of P2 and a reference. This indicates that it is a different sort of pallet. The Sizing definition for the location specifies that it can hold 12 of these pallets, so one pallet represents 8.33% full, regardless of the quantity in EA.
The Total Percentage Full for the location is obtained by summing the percentage for the individual records relating to the location.
Each time that the system considers this location for put-away of inventory, it first adds the record for the new inventory to the existing location records and calculates the new Total Percentage Full. If this exceeds 100%, the new record cannot be accepted, and the inventory cannot be put away in this location. The exception to this is when the new inventory is received in base UM, in which case the system could put away part of the inventory in the location.
Relative Sizing
Because you can specify the quantities of a particular item that make up a unit of measure, the system can provide relative sizing for locations.
Example: Consider three items, each of which can have an alternate UM of pallet type P1.
 
Item
Quantity (in EA) that Fit on a P1 Pallet
Item A
1000
Item B
1500
Item C
2000
If a location can contain 10 pallets of type P1, consider a receipt of 6,000 EA of each of the three items, assuming that full pallets are received.
 
Receipt
Number of Pallets
Percentage Full
6,000 of Item A
6
60%
6,000 of Item B
4
40%
6,000 of Item C
3
30%
Note: Relative sizing plays an important role in reducing the number of records that must be maintained to be able to calculate capacities for all possible combinations of items and locations. If you have 100 different items that can be stored in 2,000 different locations, without relative sizing you need 200,000 sizing definitions, one for each possible combination. If you use relative sizing, you can define each location’s pallet capacity (2,000 records) and each item’s quantity per pallet (100 records).