UOM Plans (Units Of Measurement Tables)
A UOM Plan groups several Units Of Measurement (Unit, Box, Kilogram, and so on) and defines how one converts into another within that group, by assigning each Unit a Factor relative to the Plan's base unit. Every item is linked to a single Plan, and from that point on it can only use the Units that Plan contains: that's what lets an item be purchased in Boxes, sold in Units and reported in Dozens, for example, with AdmCloud converting between them automatically.
What is it and what is it for?
Units Of Measurement on their own are just names (Unit, Box, Kilogram...); they don't define any conversion. That conversion is configured here, on the UOM Plan screen: a Plan groups several Units and sets each one's conversion Factor relative to the smallest Unit in the group (the one with Factor 1). For example, a "General" Plan could have the Unit "Unit" with Factor 1 and the Unit "Box" with Factor 12, meaning one Box equals 12 Units.
Every item in your inventory is linked to one of these Plans, and that link determines which Units that item can use on its purchase, sales and report transactions. Because of that, it's a good idea to have the UOM Plans you'll need ready before creating your items.
If your company doesn't have any Plan yet, AdmCloud automatically creates one named "General" with the Unit "Unit" at a Factor of 1, so you can start registering items right away.
How to use it
- Go to the UOM Plans list and click New to create one.
- Enter the Name of the Plan (for example "General" or "Weights"). It's required and can't be repeated with another existing Plan's name. Add Notes if you want to leave any additional reference.
- In the Units section, add one row for each Unit Of Measurement you want to include in the Plan: pick the Unit from the catalog and its conversion Factor relative to the smallest unit in the group. The smallest unit gets a Factor of 1; every other unit gets its equivalence. For example:
| Unit | Factor |
|---|---|
| Unit | 1 |
| Ten | 10 |
| Hundred | 100 |
- Use the insert button at the end of each row to add another Unit, or the delete button to remove it from the Plan before saving.
- Save the Plan. From that point on it's available to be assigned to your items.
If your AdmCloud edition doesn't include conversion between units (see "Availability" below), the Factor field stays fixed at 1 for every Unit in the Plan: in that case, the Plan is only useful for grouping equivalent Units, without converting quantities.
Main capabilities
- A simple catalog: list, create, edit and delete UOM Plans.
- Each Plan groups as many Units Of Measurement as you need, each one with its own conversion Factor relative to the Plan's base unit.
- Reorder the Units within a Plan by dragging their rows on the create/edit screen.
- When viewing a Plan's detail, every Unit in the list is a direct link to its record in the Units Of Measurement catalog.
- Bulk delete: check several Plans in the list and delete them all at once.
Key fields
| Field | What it's used for |
|---|---|
| Name | Identifies the Plan (for example "General", "Weights"). Required and unique across the whole Plans catalog. |
| Notes | Additional notes about the Plan. |
| Unit (per row) | The Unit Of Measurement from the catalog that's part of this Plan. |
| Factor (per row) | How many times the Plan's smallest unit equals this Unit (for example, if 1 Box = 12 Units, the Box's Factor is 12). Must be a number greater than zero. |
Validations when saving
- The Name is required and can't be repeated with another existing Table's name.
- The Plan must have at least one Unit in its list; you can't save an empty Plan.
- Each Unit's Factor must be a number greater than zero. Rows where no Unit was picked and the Factor was left at its default value of 1 are automatically ignored when saving.
- Every Unit must exist in the Units Of Measurement catalog and not be voided.
- If your AdmCloud edition doesn't include conversion between units, you can't save any Unit with a Factor other than 1 inside the Plan.
Deleting a UOM Plan
A UOM Plan can't be deleted if any item has it assigned. If you try to delete it, AdmCloud shows you the list of items that depend on that Plan, so you can assign them another Plan first.
Availability and permissions
- This feature requires the Inventory module to be enabled on your plan. If it isn't, the screen shows a "feature not available on this edition" message when you open the list or create/edit a Plan.
- Conversion between Units (using a Factor other than 1) depends on your AdmCloud edition including this capability. If it doesn't, you can still create and use Plans, but every Unit in them stays fixed at a Factor of 1 (no quantity conversion).
- Access is controlled by the "Units Of Measurement" permission (IC_UOM) on your user group, with independent levels for view, add, edit and delete.
Tips and common mistakes
"The UOM table already exists". There's already a Plan with that Name; use a different one or edit the existing Plan instead of creating a new one.
"Units are required". You tried to save a Plan without any Unit in the list; add at least one row before saving.
"Invalid factor" / "Invalid UOM factor". Some Unit's Factor was left blank, set to zero, or filled with a non-numeric value. Check that every Unit in the list has a number greater than zero.
"You can't set units with a factor other than one on this system edition". Your AdmCloud edition doesn't include conversion between Units; leave the Factor at 1 for every Unit in the Plan, or ask your administrator about upgrading your AdmCloud plan.
"You can't delete this record because the following records depend on it". There are items using that Plan. Check the list AdmCloud shows you and assign them another Plan before deleting this one.
If you only need to add a new unit name (without conversion), first create it in the Units Of Measurement catalog and then add it to this Plan with its corresponding Factor.