Glossary
Pack factor
A pack factor converts one pack into base pieces. A case with a factor of 24 holds 24 pieces. Change the factor and stored cases read as a different number of pieces, so the change folds the stock at the old factor first.
What it is
A pack factor converts one pack into base pieces. A case with a factor of 24 holds 24 pieces. A dozen has a factor of 12. A master case has a factor equal to the pieces in the whole carton. The factor is the bridge between the unit people handle and the unit the ledger counts in.
Factors live on the product, per unit, and only active conversions apply. A factor that is deactivated stops converting; it does not rewrite history.
Why it matters
The factor is the ruler. Change the ruler and every measurement taken with it changes. Stock stored as cases and read as cases times the active factor will read as a different number of pieces the moment the factor changes, with no movement behind the change. That is how a warehouse gains stock nobody received, and how a channel gets promised stock that does not exist.
The fold exists because of this. Before a new conversion is written, every safe case bucket converts at the old factor, so the piece total stays put. The physical quantity never changed, so there is no inventory movement, only a fold event with the before and after per bucket.
A worked example
SKU BRK-2210 has 4 cases on the dock and an old master case of 24. The screen reads 96 pieces. Someone adds a master case conversion of 360, because the supplier repacked. The fold turns the 4 cases into 96 pieces at the old factor of 24, and only then writes the new factor. The piece total stays 96. Without the fold, the same 4 cases would have read as 1,440 pieces.
How DockingWare does it
A create, change, or removal of a case or master-case conversion that changes the resolved factor folds every safe case bucket at the old factor in the same transaction, then writes the conversion, then records one fold event per product with before and after per bucket. A missing or non-integer factor is refused, and an open document line in cases that cannot be folded blocks the change.
See also: When the case size changes, the pieces stay the same.
Questions
- What is a pack factor?
- The number that converts one pack into base pieces. A case with a factor of 24 is 24 pieces. A dozen is 12. The factor is a whole number, and a missing or non-integer factor is refused.
- What happens when a pack factor changes?
- The stock is folded 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.
- What if an open document uses the old factor?
- An open document line in cases that cannot be folded blocks the change with a refusal instead of being corrupted. Draft lines are folded. Closed history stays in cases and does not block.