Set up unit conversions

  • 10 minutes

In Supply Chain Management, a product can't be sold or purchased unless a unit of measure is associated with it. You need to specify all units that a company uses on the Units page. To create and work with the units of measure that are available in your system, go to Organization administration > Setup > Units > Units.

On the Released products page, you can specify units of measure for purchase orders, inventory, and sales orders. For example, a product might be purchased in pounds, stocked in liters, and sold in pints.

Create standard units and conversions

If your system doesn't already include the most used units of measure for the metric system and/or the US customary system (USCS), the Unit setup wizard can help you get started with basic unit definitions and conversions. To complete the wizard, select Unit creation wizard on the Action Pane and then follow the on-screen instructions.

Create or edit a unit of measure

To create or edit a unit of measure, follow these steps:

  1. Start by following one of these steps:
    • To edit an existing unit, select it in the list pane.
    • To create a new unit, select New on the Action Pane.
  2. On the header of the record, set the following fields:
    • Unit – Enter the ID or symbol to use to refer to the unit in the system language. Usually, this ID or symbol is a common abbreviation for the unit, such as ea for each or cm for centimeter.
    • Description – Enter a descriptive name for the unit in the system language. This name is usually the full name of the unit, such as Each or Centimeter.
  3. On the General FastTab, set the following fields:

    • Unit class – Select the property that the unit measures (such as length, area, mass, or quantity).

    • System of units – Select the measurement system that the unit belongs to (Metric units or United States customary units).

    • Base unit – Set this option to Yes to use the current unit as the base unit for its unit class. In this case, you only have to specify the conversion factor between the base unit and each extra unit in the unit class. Then, the system can convert between all units in that unit class. Therefore, it's easier to set up conversions.

      For example, if gallon is the base unit for the Volume unit class, you only need to set up conversion factors from quart to gallon and from pint to gallon. Then, the system can also convert from quart to pint. You can have only one base unit for each unit class.

    • System unit – Set this option to Yes to use the current unit as the assumed unit for all unspecified measurements in its unit class. For example, if a field that is used to enter a quantity doesn't allow a unit to be specified (or if the user doesn't select a unit), the system uses the unit that is set as the system unit for the Quantity unit class. You can have only one system unit for each unit class.

    • Decimal precision – Specify the number of decimal places to round values that are specified for or converted to the current unit.

  4. On the Action Pane, select Save.

Screenshot of the Units page.

Define unit translations

To define translations for the ID or symbol and the description for a unit of measure, follow these steps.

  1. Create or select the unit to create translations for.
  2. On the Action Pane, select Unit texts. Use this page to define translations for the ID or symbol for the selected unit. Then, you can use those translations on external documents in customer-specific or vendor-specific languages.
  3. On the Action Pane, select New.
  4. In the Language field, select the language to translate the unit ID or symbol to.
  5. In the Text field, enter the translation of the unit ID or symbol in the selected language.
  6. On the Action Pane, select Save.
  7. Close the page.
  8. On the Action Pane, select Translated unit descriptions. Use this page to define language-specific descriptions for the selected unit.
  9. On the Action Pane, select New.
  10. In the Language field, select the language to translate the unit description to.
  11. In the Description field, enter the translation of the unit description in the selected language.
  12. On the Action Pane, select Save.
  13. Close the page.

Define unit conversion rules

To define rules for conversions between units of measure, follow these steps.

  1. Create or select the unit to define conversion rules for.
  2. On the Action Pane, select Unit conversions. Use this page to define rules for converting the selected unit to and from other units in the unit class.
  3. Select one of the following tabs, depending on the type of conversion that you want to set up:
    • Standard conversions – Set up standard conversion rules for all products.
    • Intra-class conversions – Set up product-specific conversion rules for units in the same unit class.
    • Inter-class conversions – Set up product-specific conversion rules for units across unit classes.
  4. Follow one of these steps:
    • To create a new conversion, select New on the toolbar.
    • To edit an existing conversion, select the conversion in the grid and then select Edit on the toolbar.
  5. In the dropdown dialog box that appears, set the following fields:
    • Product – Select the specific product that the conversion applies to. This field is available only for intra-class and inter-class conversions.
    • Formula layout – Leave this field set to Simple to specify a simple conversion that has a single factor. Set it to Advanced to set up a more complex equation. The format for advanced equations varies, depending on the unit class.
    • From unit – This field shows the selected unit. Usually, you should not change the value. (If you do change the value, make sure that you open the Unit conversions page for the selected unit to view your new conversion after you save it.)
    • To unit – Select the unit to convert to.
    • Rounding – Select how fractions should be rounded, based on the Decimal precision value of the selected unit (To nearest, Up, or Down).
    • Conversion formula – Use the remaining fields in the upper part of the dropdown dialog box to specify the formula for converting between the two units. The available fields vary, depending on the unit class and formula layout that you've selected.
  6. Select OK.
  7. Close the page.

Unit conversions

You can specify the conversion with a specific product if necessary. Essentially, the unit conversion is only valid for the selected product. Product specificity is important because, for example, a pack of one type of product might contain five pieces, whereas a pack of another type of product might contain ten pieces. Therefore, you can use the unit Pack for different quantities of pieces that are dependent on the product. To create a new conversion rule for a released product, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to Product information management > Products > Released products. Select the released product you want to create a new conversion rule for.

  2. Select Product located on the Action Pane in the Released product details > Set up > Unit conversions.

  3. On the Unit conversions page, select New to create a new conversion rule. To modify an existing conversion, select it in the list.

  4. In the left pane, select the type of conversion to set up from the following options:

    • Standard conversions – Rules that apply for all products. You can only set up standard conversion rules for units of measure in the same unit class.
    • Intra-class conversions – Rules for units of measure in the same unit class. For example, you can set up a conversion rule for a product that converts a box to the number of pieces in a box. Pieces and boxes are assigned to the Quantity unit class.
    • Inter-class conversions - Rules for units of measure across unit classes. For example, you can set up a conversion rule for a product that converts kilograms to liters. Kilograms are assigned to the Mass unit class and liters are assigned to the Liquid volume unit class.

  5. Specify a From unit and To unit. You can indicate whether the relation between the From unit and the To unit is a 1:1 ratio or if it's a fraction.

    For example, you want to create a conversion rule for the product L0001: MidRangeSpeaker2 where 1 box fits 16 each. In this case, you can set up a conversion factor with From unit = Box and To unit = Each, and then enter 1 in the numerator field and 16 in the denominator field.

  6. Select Rounding and Formula layout.

  7. Select OK.

Screenshot of the Unit conversions page.