Glossary
Base unit
The base unit is the one unit of account a product is counted in, usually pieces. Every other unit converts into it, and stock, movements, and reports settle in it.
What it is
The base unit is the one unit of account a product is counted in, usually pieces. Every other unit, dozen, case, master case, pallet, converts into it through a pack factor. Stock is kept in the base unit. Movements settle in the base unit. Reports read in the base unit.
The base unit is a property of the product. It does not change when a pack factor changes, when a new warehouse opens, or when a price changes. It is the stable ruler everything else measures against.
Why it matters
A warehouse that counts the same product in cases on one screen and pieces on another will eventually reconcile the two and find they disagree. One unit of account removes that whole class of argument. The pick face, the bulk bay, and the channel listing all read the same number, because they all read the base unit.
The base unit is also what makes per-warehouse stock honest. One row per product and warehouse, each row in base pieces, means two buildings give two comparable numbers instead of one blurry total.
A worked example
SKU WDG-1040 has a base unit of pieces. A receipt of 2 dozen is 24 pieces in the base unit. A case of 24 pieces is 24 in the base unit. A master case of 360 pieces is 360. Three different handling units, one counting unit, and the stock screen shows the sum in pieces with the pack breakdown beside it.
How DockingWare does it
Stock Levels, reports, and CSV exports read in base pieces, with the pack breakdown beside the piece total. Movements store the entered unit and factor alongside the base quantity, so the record says both what was handled and what it counts as.
See also: When the case size changes, the pieces stay the same.
Questions
- What is the base unit?
- The one unit of account a product is counted in, usually pieces. Every other unit converts into it through its pack factor, and stock, movements, and reports settle in it.
- Why one unit of account?
- Because a product counted in three units has three truths. One unit of account means one stock number, one ledger, and one answer to how much is here.
- Does the base unit change when a pack factor changes?
- No. The base unit stays pieces. The fold converts the case buckets into pieces at the old factor, so the piece total does not move when the factor changes.