https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E18727_01/doc.121/e13450/T291651T291797.

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Oracle Inventory User's Guide
Release 12.1
Part Number E13450-04

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Unit of Measure
This chapter covers the following topics:

Overview of Units of Measure

Defining Unit of Measure Classes

Examples of Unit of Measure Classes

Defining Units of Measure

Examples of Units of Measure

Defining Unit of Measure Conversions

Examples of Unit of Measure Conversions

Lot-Specific Unit of Measure Conversions

Overview of Units of Measure

Oracle Inventory provides you with powerful methods for defining and manipulating units of measure. You
can easily convert between the units of measure you define. This enables you to manufacture, order, or
receive items in any unit of measure. With units of measure you can:

Define unit of measure classes

Define units of measure

Define unit of measure conversions

Define lot-specific unit of measure conversions

Defining Unit of Measure Classes

Unit of measure classes represent groups of units of measure with similar characteristics. Creating unit of
measure classes is the first step in unit of measure management. Each unit of measure you define must
belong to a unit of measure class.
Each class has a base unit of measure. The base unit of measure is used to perform conversions between
units of measure in the class. For this reason, the base unit of measure should be representative of the
other units of measure in the class, and generally one of the smaller units. For example, you could use CU
(cubic feet) as the base unit of a class called Volume.
Unit of measure classes are not organization-specific. Default unit of measure classes are not provided.
To define a unit of measure class
1. Navigate to the Unit of Measure Classes window.

Important: You should use the Oracle Assets or Oracle Order Management versions of this window
only when you use those products without Oracle Inventory or Oracle Purchasing. If you use
Inventory or Purchasing, you should use their Unit of Measure Classes windows.
When using Oracle Assets, you need to set up units only if you use the units of production
depreciation method.
2. Enter a unique name for the unit of measure class.
3. Define the base unit of measure for this class.

4. Define a unique abbreviation for the base unit of measure.

For example, EA for each or HRS for hours.
5. Save your work.
To make a unit of measure class inactive
1. Enter the date on which the unit of measure class becomes inactive.
As of this date, you can no longer define new units of measure for this class.
Related Topics
Examples of Unit of Measure Classes
Overview of Units of Measure

Examples of Unit of Measure Classes

Unit

Base Unit of Measure

Other Units Measure

Quantity

each

dozen, box

Weight

gram

pound, kilogram

Time

second

minute, hour

Volume

cubic inches

cubic feat, cubic centimeters

Defining Units of Measure

Units of measure are used by a variety of functions and transactions to express the quantity of items.
Defining units of measure is the second step in unit of measure management.
The values defined in the Units of Measure window provide the list of values available in unit of measure
fields in other windows.
Units of measure are not organization-specific.

Primary Unit of Measure

Theprimary unit of measure is the stocking unit of measure for an item in a particular organization. The
primary unit of measure is an item attribute that you specify when defining each item.
Prerequisites

You must define at least one unit of measure class. See: Defining Unit of Measure Classes

To define a unit of measure

1. Navigate to the Units of Measure window.

Important: You should use the Oracle Assets or Oracle Order Management versions of this window
only when you use those products without Oracle Inventory or Oracle Purchasing. If you use
Inventory or Purchasing, you should use their Units of Measure windows.
When using Oracle Assets, you need to set up units only if you use the units of production
depreciation method.
2. Enter a unique name for the unit of measure.
3. Enter a unique abbreviation for the unit of measure with a maximum length of three characters.

For example, EA for each or HRS for hours.

4. Enter a unit of measure class.
5. Indicate if this is the base unit of measure for the unit of measure class.
6. Save your work.
To delete a unit of measure
1. You can delete existing units of measure that are not base units of measure if no standard or item
specific conversions are defined.
To make a unit of measure inactive
1. Enter the date on which the unit of measure becomes inactive. As of this date, you can no longer
assign standard or item-specific conversions to the unit of measure.
Related Topics
Examples of Units of Measure
Overview of Units of Measure

Examples of Units of Measure

The following table presents units of measure.
Unit of Measure Class

Unit of Measure

Unit of Measure Code

Base Unit of Measure?

Quantity

each

EA

Yes

Quantity

dozen

DZ

No

Weight

gram

GR

Yes

Weight

kilogram

KG

No

Defining Unit of Measure Conversions

Unit of measure conversions are numerical factors that enable you to perform transactions in units other
than the primary unit of the item being transacted. You can define:

a conversion common to any item (Standard)

a conversion for a specific item within a unit of measure class (Intra-class)

a conversion for a specific item between unit of measure classes (Inter-class)

Unit of measure conversions are not organization-specific.

You must define a conversion between a non-base unit of measure and the base unit of measure before
you can assign the non-base unit of measure to an item.

Specifying Which Conversion to Use

When you define an item you decide which type of unit of measure conversion to use:

Item specific: Only uses unit of measure conversions unique to this item. If none exist, you can only
transact this item in its primary unit of measure.

Standard: Uses standard unit of measure conversions for this item if an item-specific conversion is
not available.

Both: Uses both item-specific and standard unit of measure conversions. If both exist for the same
unit of measure and item combination, the item-specific conversion is used.

Unit of Measure Conversions During Transactions

Whenever you enter an item's quantity, the default is the primary unit of measure for the item. The list of
values for the unit of measure field displays all units of measure for which you have defined standard
and/or item-specific conversions from the primary unit of measure.
Transactions are performed in the unit of measure you specify. The conversion happens automatically and
item quantities are updated in the primary unit of measure of the item.
Important: Inventory transactions and on hand balance supports decimal precision to 5 digits after the
decimal point. Oracle Work in Process supports decimal precision to 6 digits. Other Oracle Applications
support different decimal precision. As a result of the decimal precision mismatch, transactions another
Oracle Application passes may be rounded when processed by Inventory. If the transaction quantity is
rounded to zero, Inventory does not process the transaction. It is therefore suggested that the base unit of
measure for an item is set up such that transaction quantities in the base unit of measure not require
greater than 5 digits of decimal precision.

To define a Standard conversion for any item

1. Navigate to the Unit of Measure Conversions window.
2. Select the Standard tabbed region.

3. Enter a unit of measure.

4. Enter the conversion factor by which the unit of measure is equivalent to the base unit of measure
established for this class.
For example, if one DZ (this unit of measure) is equivalent to 12 EA (base unit), the conversion factor
is 12. Or, if EA is equal to one-twelfth of a DZ, the conversion factor is 0.08333.
5. Save your work.
To define a conversion for a specific item within a unit of measure class (Intra-class)
1. Navigate to the Unit of Measure Conversions window.
2. Select the Intra-class tabbed region.
3. Enter an item.
4. Enter a unit of measure.
5. Enter the conversion factor by which the unit of measure is equivalent to the base unit of measure
established for this class.
For example, if one LB (this unit of measure) is equivalent to 16 OZ (base unit), the conversion factor
is 16.
6. Save your work.
To define a conversion for a specific item between unit of measure classes (Inter-class)
1. Navigate to the Unit of Measure Conversions window.
2. Select the Inter-class tabbed region.

3. Select an item.
4. Select the destination base unit of measure of the class to which you are converting a unit of
measure.
5. Enter the conversion factor by which the source base unit is equivalent to the destination base unit.
For example, if one ML (source base unit) is equivalent to one GR (destination base unit), the
conversion factor is one.
6. Save your work.
To make a unit of measure conversion inactive
1. Enter the date on which the conversion becomes inactive.
As of this date, you can no longer use the unit of measure conversion.
Related Topics
Examples of Unit of Measure Conversions
Overview of Units of Measure
Lot Specific Unit of Measure Conversions

Examples of Unit of Measure Conversions

The following table presents standard conversions.

Standard Conversions

Unit of Measure
Class

Unit of
Measure

Unit of Measure
Code

Base Unit of
Measure?

Standard
Conversion

Quantity

each

EA

Yes

Quantity

dozen

DZ

No

1 DZ = 12 EA

Weight

gram

GR

Yes

Weight

pound

LB

No

1LB = 454 GR

Time

second

SE

Yes

Time

minute

MI

No

1 MI = 60 SE

The following table presents item-specific, intra-class conversions.

Item-specific Intra-class Conversions

Item

Unit of Measure Class

Unit of Measure

Unit of Measure Code

Conversion

soda pop

Quantity

case

CS

1 CS = 24 EA

canned tomatoes Quantity

case

CS

1 CS = 10 EA

The following table presents item-specific, inter-class conversions.

Item-specific Inter-class Conversions

Item

Destination Base
Unit

gasolin gram

Conversio Source Base

Class n
Unit

Class

Weigh 1.35

Volum 1.35 ML = 1 GR

milliliter

Mathematical
Relationship

water

gram

Weigh 1
t

e
milliliter

Volum 1 ML = 1 GR
e

Lot-Specific Unit of Measure Conversions

Lot specific conversions enable you to perform a specific inter-class conversion for a given lot. This enables
you to establish more granular control over the transactional quantities of a lot. For example, the standard
inter-class conversion for a lot controlled item is one gallon equals 15 pounds; however, when you receive
a particular lot of the item, 1 gallon equals 16 pounds. You can create a lot specific unit of measure for this
instance.
You can create lot-specific unit of measure conversions for on-hand lots or lots with a zero balance. If you
create a lot-specific conversion for a lot with on-hand quantities, you can automatically update the
quantities in the system to more accurately reflect the on-hand quantity.
You can also view the history of changes made to the lot unit of measure conversion, and the
corresponding quantity changes.

To create a lot specific unit of measure conversion:

1. Navigate to the Lot Inter-Class Unit of Measure Conversions window.

2. Enter the item number in the Item field.

3. Enter the lot number in the Lot Number field.

4. Select the destination base unit of measure of the class to which you are converting the unit of
measure.
5. Enter the conversion factor by which the source base unit is equivalent to the destination base unit.
For example, if 16 pounds (source base unit) is equivalent to 1 Gallon (destination base unit), the
conversion factor is 16.
6. Optionally, enter an inactive date for the conversion. This is the date when the unit of measure
conversion for the lot reverts back to the standard inter-class conversion.
7. Optionally, enter a transaction reason for the conversion. See Defining Transaction Reasons for more
information.
8. Save your work.

To update lot on-hand quantities:

1. Select a lot-specific unit of measure conversion.
2. Click Update Quantities on the Lot Inter-Class Unit of Measure Conversions window.

3. Select the Update Type. The available choices are:

o Update On-Hand Balances: This enables you to enter a new primary or secondary on-hand
balance. The system automatically recalculates the other on-hand balance as well as the
transaction quantities based on the conversion factor.
o Recalculate Batch Primary Quantity: The system automatically recalculates the new primary
on-hand quantity and process-batch quantity based on the conversion factor. The secondary

quantity remains the same. The system automatically updates additional on-hand quantities
that the batch transaction did not create. If the lot was yielded only by the batch, then the
system does not update the transaction quantities.
o Recalculate Batch Secondary Quantity: The system automatically recalculates the new
secondary on-hand quantity and process-batch quantity based on the conversion factor. The
primary quantity remains the same. The system automatically updates additional on-hand
quantities that the batch transaction did not create. If the lot was yielded only by the batch,
then the system does not update the transaction quantities.
o Recalculate On-Hand Primary Quantity: The system automatically recalculates the primary
quantity based on the conversion factor. The secondary quantity remains the same, and the
system updates the transaction quantities.
o Recalculate On-Hand Secondary Quantity: The system automatically recalculates the
secondary quantity based on the conversion factor. The primary quantity remains the same,
and the system updates the transaction quantities.
4. Verify the Update Balance check box is selected. If you do not want to update the balance for the
row, deselect the Update Balance check box.
5. Review the location and transaction information. These fields are display only: Organization, Rev, LPN
Subinventory, Locator Primary Transaction, and Secondary Transaction. You can update the new
primary or secondary quantity if you select Update On-hand Balances as the update type.
6. Save your work.

To view lot conversion history:

1. Select a lot-specific unit of measure conversion.
2. Click History in the Lot Inter-Class Unit of Measure Conversions window.

3. View the lot transaction history information. This is a display window, and you cannot make any
changes within it. It contains the following information:
o Audit Reference: The internal system reference number.
o Reason: The transaction reason for the lot update.
o Update Type: The type of update performed on the lot.
o Old Conversion: The standard inter-class conversion rate for the item.
o New conversion: The lot-specific conversion rate for the lot.
o Update Date: The day that you updated the lot quantities.
o Balance Updated: If selected, the system-updated lot on hand balance.
o Org: Organization where the lot resides.
o Rev: Item revision for the lot.
o LPN: LPN where the lot resides if applicable.
o Subinventory: Subinventory where the lot resides.
o Locator: Locator where the lot resides if applicable.
o Previous Primary and Secondary Quantities: The on-hand primary and secondary quantities
before the lot update transaction.
o New Primary and Secondary Quantities: The on-hand primary and secondary quantities after
the lot update transaction.

o Transaction Primary and Secondary Quantities: The primary and secondary transaction
quantities.
4. Click View Material transactions to view the transaction information. For more information, Viewing
Material Transactions.
5. Close the window when finished.
Related Topics
Defining Unit of Measure Conversions
Examples of Unit of Measure Conversions
Overview of Units of Measure
Overview of Lot Control