Some software can handle 2 unit of measure for the same stock keeping unit (SKU). Some software can only record single unit of measure.
- What are the businesses that requires 2 UOM?
- What if your system only can manage a single UOM only but you need 2 or more?
- Are all 2 UOM fits all businesses?
For point 1, we use a retail business as an illustration.
If you sell bottled drinks like Coca-Cola, you will sell by the unit of measure as bottle, and you do sell by the cartons ( 12 bottles per carton) of the same thing occasionally.
You will only need to maintain one SKU. System will deduct 12 bottles from the stock card for every one carton sold.
If you sell clothing, supplier sell you by the dozens and you will sell by per piece. You will need 2 UOM for your inventory
For point 2, you will likely create 2 Stock keeping unit (SKU) to manage the 2 unit of measures and that can double your work to maintain the same stock in 2 different posting. And you need to transfer from one SKU to another to tally the quantities.
For point 3, not all UOM has a fixed ratio, example 1 pc = 2 kg. In a seafood business or poultry business, where each piece may not be fixed due to seasonal supplies, or each size of poultry differs. You purchase by weight, and you sell by piece with indicating the actual total weight of the pieces sold. You update your stock card by the weight in and weight out. The formula of a fixed weight to the piece will not work here.
So when you are sourcing a system for your company, be aware of your trade and the requirement. Not all software can handle variable 2nd UOM, especially if it is subject to the total weight of the pieces sold.
Here in Realtimme Cloud, our inventory system is robust to handle 2 unit of measures for seafood or poultry business, whereby some customer is billed by per piece but your inventory system is tracked by the total weight sold.
