Units of measure are standard quantities of inventory items which can optionally be used in PVX to move items around the warehouse. This improves the efficiency of inventory handling and speeds up routine warehouse tasks such as receiving and picking.
For example, imagine that you stock an inventory item which is supplied in a carton that contains 4 small boxes, each of which contains 4 individual items. You can set up a first unit of measure for the small box and also a second unit of measure for the outer carton. When you come to fulfil an order for 20 of these items, you can then pick one outer carton (16) and a small box (4) instead of having to scan 20 individual items.
Units of measure are particularly effective when they are used in composite barcodes, as the act of scanning the barcode automatically applies the appropriate unit of measure for that item. However, they can still be used with standard barcodes as the PVX mobile app will prompt you to select a unit of measure when you are scanning the item.
Note: If inventory items are moved around the warehouse in non-standard quantities, then we don't recommend using units of measure for any items as it could cause confusion.
Units of measure have to be created and assigned to items in the PVX web app before they become available for completing tasks in the mobile app.
Setting up units of measure
Go to the Units tab in the Setup module of the PVX web app.
Click Add new.
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In the Add new unit type dialog, enter the following information:
a name for the new unit of measure;
a code that you will use in your composite barcode for the scanner to recognise the unit of measure (this is required even if you are not using composite barcodes); and
an abbreviated name for the unit of measure that can be used on the mobile device.
Click Save.
If you are using composite barcodes then the code you enter in the dialog above should be the packaging code component of your EAN barcode.
Assigning units of measure to an item
Go to the Items tab in the Warehouse module of the web app.
Search for and select the item to which you want to assign a unit of measure, and click View.
In the Edit item dialog, click the Units tab and then click Edit.
Select the unit of measure you want to assign from the list of Unassigned units on the left of the dialog and click Assign >. The item will move to the Assigned units list on the right of the dialog.
Enter the Quantity of the item that is contained in the unit of measure.
If you are using package types in your despatch process, select the package type from the drop-down list of options on your WMS. Refer to the article on configuring your despatch process for further information on package types.
Click Save.
Using units of measure
Once a unit of measure is assigned to an item, PVX will either automatically apply this unit of measure (if a composite barcode is scanned) or offer it as an option when the item is being handled. In the latter case, the units of measure for the item are displayed to allow you to choose which unit you are using. (A selection has to be made between the individual item - known as an 'each' in PVX - and any assigned unit of measure.) You should then use the appropriate quantity of the unit of measure to handle the items.
For example, suppose you are picking an item which is supplied in inner cases that each contain 10 ‘eaches’. An 'inner case' unit of measure has been set up for the item. Therefore, in order to pick 20 items, you need to enter a quantity of 2, NOT a quantity of 20, as you will only scan 2 inner cases.
Further information on using units of measure can be found in the mobile app user's guide.