A unit of measure describes the increment in which you order, issue, or transfer an item or tool, or order a service. Examples of units of measure include EACH, CASE, IN (inches), and ROLL. A conversion factor is a numeric value that is applied to relate one unit of measure to another (a ratio). Before adding items to storerooms, you must define all types of units of measure first, and then define the conversion ratios for those units. When you add an item to a storeroom, you must supply a value for the issue unit using the units of measure that you have predefined. Conversion from one unit of measure to another takes place only when you receive or transfer an item into a storeroom. For this reason, the system is always converting to the unit at which a storeroom receives and stores the items, which is the same as the storeroom's issue unit.
If the order and issue units do not match when you receive the item into a storeroom or when you transfer it between storerooms, the system looks for a conversion ratio to determine the stocking balance for the storeroom. For example, you order light bulbs in bulk. Your unit of measure is a case, with a quantity received of 36. However, when you issue the item, you issue it one at a time. In this case, you can define a measure unit of CASE and another measure unit of EACH. You define a conversion ratio from CASE to EACH with a factor of 36. When you receive an order of bulbs into a storeroom, the system converts the received order unit of one CASE into the storeroom's issue unit of 36 EACH.
You can also associate a conversion to a specific item, if needed. For example, a CASE for one item can be 24 and for another item it might be 36. However, the numbers 24 and 36 represent the quantity within the case and not the issue unit. If you receive a case of 24 gaskets, but you issue them in sets of four, then the conversion ratio for CASE in this example would be 6. You can assign the conversion of a CASE of 24 gaskets to be 6, and associate it to the item gaskets. If you receive 36 light bulbs to a case but decide to issue them in sets of two, then the conversion unit would be 18.
If you insert a new line for a storeroom item within the system's purchasing applications (PR line, PO line, etc.), the system uses the specified order unit along with the storeroom's issue unit and checks for an existing conversion. If the system finds a conversion for the two units, the conversion field is set to this value. You can change the defaulted conversion value, as needed. If the system cannot find a match, it asks you to specify a conversion ratio. For all direct issue items, the system sets the conversion field to one and the field becomes read-only, because you issue these items in the same unit in which you receive them. If the order unit and the issue unit are the same, the system also sets the Conversion Factor field to one. The system always sets the conversion ratio to one on rotating items, and the field becomes read only.
When you receive an item, the system takes the received order unit value along with the storeroom's issue unit and checks for an existing conversion. When all receipt lines pass validation, the system receives the items and adjusts the storeroom balances accordingly. If an item does not exist in the receiving storeroom, the system creates an inventory record for the item and sets the issue unit equal to the received unit.
When you transfer an item from one storeroom to another, the system compares the transferred item's issue unit to the issue unit of the "transfer to" storeroom and checks for an existing conversion. When you save a transfer, the system verifies that all transfer lines with references to storerooms have a conversion value. If a line does not resolve to a predefined conversion value, you must specify one to complete the transaction.
You can delete a unit of measure only if the system is not using it within a conversion, on a specification template, or on a meter record. You can delete a conversion at any time. If the system processes a transaction that used the conversion you deleted, it prompts you to enter a new conversion to finish the transaction.
Note: The System Administrator's Guide contains additional information about record deletion rules.