Glossary
Master case
A master case is the largest pack: a sealed carton holding several cases. Its factor is the number of base pieces in one master case, and changing it folds the stock at the old factor first.
What it is
A master case is the largest pack: a sealed carton holding several cases. Its factor is the number of base pieces in one master case. If a case holds 24 pieces and a master case holds 15 cases, the master case factor is 360.
The master case is a handling unit. Nobody picks pieces out of a sealed master case; it is received, stored, and broken down into cases. But the ledger still counts it in base pieces, through the factor.
Why it matters
The master case factor is the biggest multiplier in the product, so it is the one that hurts most when it changes. A product stored as cases that suddenly reads through a new master case factor can gain hundreds of phantom pieces in one save. The fold exists to stop exactly that: convert at the old factor before writing the new one.
The master case also matters for pricing. A price stored per master case is a different price than a price stored per case or per dozen, and the line must know which unit it was priced in.
A worked example
SKU BRK-2210 has 4 cases on the dock and an old master case of 24. The screen reads 96 pieces. The supplier repacks to a master case of 360. The fold turns the 4 cases into 96 pieces at the old factor, then writes the new factor. The piece total stays 96, and the new master case of 360 prices and converts from a clean base.
How DockingWare does it
A master case is a conversion with its own factor, created and changed through the same fold as a case: safe case buckets convert at the old factor first, then the conversion is written, then one fold event per product records the before and after. A missing or non-integer factor is refused.
See also: When the case size changes, the pieces stay the same.
Questions
- What is a master case?
- The largest pack: a sealed carton holding several cases. Its factor is the number of base pieces in one master case.
- How is a master case different from a case?
- Size and handling. A case is opened on the floor. A master case usually stays sealed until it is broken down into cases. Both convert into base pieces through their own factors.
- What happens when the master case factor changes?
- The stock folds at the old factor first: cases go to zero, pieces grow by cases times the old factor, and then the new conversion is written. The piece total does not move.