Units of Measure
Each material can have one or more units of measure defined for it. This lets you work with a material in different quantities depending on the context — buying it by the box, issuing it by the piece, tracking weight in kilograms.
How units work
Section titled “How units work”A material has a base unit (set in the material record itself, as a plain text field). Units of measure let you define additional units with a converter — a ratio that says how many base units one of these units equals.
For example, if the base unit is “piece” and you also want to work in “box of 12”, you’d create a unit of measure called “Box” with a converter of 12. The system uses this ratio when converting quantities between units.
Fields per unit of measure
Section titled “Fields per unit of measure”| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The unit name, e.g. “Box”, “Litre”, “Kilogram” |
| Converter | How many base units this unit equals. Default is 1. |
| Can be split | Whether this unit can be broken down into smaller quantities. A “piece” can’t be split; a “litre” might be. |
| Cumulative unit ratio splitter | Controls how splitting is handled when quantities are divided across items. Default is 1. |
| Unit roundup | Whether quantities should be rounded up when converting. Useful for units that can’t be partially used. |
| Weight | The weight per unit, if relevant |
| Capacity | The volume or capacity per unit, if relevant |
Managing units of measure
Section titled “Managing units of measure”Units of measure are managed from within the material record, not from a separate global list. They belong to the specific material they’re created for.
Adding a unit
Section titled “Adding a unit”Open a material record and go to the Units of Measure section. Click Add unit to define a new unit for this material. Fill in the fields above and save.
Editing a unit
Section titled “Editing a unit”Open the unit from the material record and update any field. Changes take effect immediately.
Deleting a unit
Section titled “Deleting a unit”Delete from the unit’s edit view. This removes the unit definition. Historical records that used this unit are not affected.
Example
Section titled “Example”Say you stock a refrigerant that you buy by the kilogram but often use in smaller amounts measured in grams during jobs.
You’d set the material’s base unit to “gram” and create a unit of measure:
- Name: Kilogram
- Converter: 1000
- Can be split: Yes
- Unit roundup: No
When someone enters a quantity in kilograms, the system knows each kilogram equals 1000 grams of stock.