Alternate units of measure

Standard Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central lets you assign several unit of measure codes to an inventory item. This gives you the ability to record quantities in different unit amounts, depending on the circumstances. For example, you might purchase a raw material by the case, but measure it in pounds when consuming it in production.

Regardless of how many additional units are assigned to an item, all are defined in relation to the item's base unit of measure. The base unit of measure represents the primary unit by which the item is measured. Whenever a unit other than the base unit is entered on a transaction line, the program also records the transaction in terms of the base unit, using conversion factors defined between the base unit and the alternatives. For example, an item has a base unit of measure of pound, and an additional unit of measure of case. A conversion of 500 pounds per case is defined. When a purchase line is posted for two cases, a transaction amount of 1,000 pounds is also recorded.

You may require a second unit in addition to the base unit to be recorded on all transactions for an item. A common scenario is when you stock an item by one unit of measure but price or cost it by another.

Food Manufacturing & Distribution gives you the ability to define an alternate unit of measure for an item. If an item has a defined alternate unit, transactions for that item are always recorded in both the item's base and alternate units.

The following table describes a sequence of activities, with links to the topics that describe them. These activities are listed in the order in which they are generally performed.