How to Utilize Units of Measurement in Luminous
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- Step 1: Access Units of Measurement Settings
- Step 2: Set Up Unit Classes
- Step 3: Configure Units of Measure
- Step 4: Create Conversion Rules
- Step 5: Apply Units of Measure to SKUs
- Step 6: Use Units of Measure in Assembly Orders
- Step 7: Adjust Display Settings
Managing units of measurement in Luminous ensures accurate inventory tracking and smooth operational workflows. This guide provides step-by-step instructions on setting up and using units of measurement effectively in the system.
Step 1: Access Units of Measurement Settings
- Navigate to Inventory Admin > Units of Measure.
- Explore the tabs at the top:
- Unit Classes
- Units of Measure
- Conversion Rules
Step 2: Set Up Unit Classes
Unit classes define how inventory is tracked (e.g., by quantity, weight, or length).
- In the Unit Classes tab, review the default classes:
- Common unit classes include quantity, length, weight, area, or volume.
- By default, the base class is Quantity (e.g., "each").
- To modify:
- Change the base class if necessary (e.g., for specific industries like liquids or bulk goods).
- Rename unit classes to match your operational terminology.
Step 3: Configure Units of Measure
Units of measure are specific tracking units within a class (e.g., grams, kilograms, feet).
- Go to the Units of Measure tab.
- Create or edit units of measure:
- For weight: Add units like grams, kilograms, or pounds.
- For length: Add units like inches, feet, or yards.
- Set the Base Unit:
- This should be the smallest measurable unit (e.g., grams for weight, millimeters for length).
Step 4: Create Conversion Rules
Conversion rules establish relationships between units within the same class.
- Navigate to the Conversion Rules tab.
- Define a conversion:
- Select a Base Unit (e.g., grams).
- Choose the target unit (e.g., kilograms).
- Specify the conversion factor (e.g., 1 kilogram = 1,000 grams).
- Apply rules:
- System-wide for all SKUs.
- Specific SKUs for unique cases (e.g., different conversion rates for oil and water).
Step 5: Apply Units of Measure to SKUs
- Go to the SKUs page.
- For each SKU:
- Assign a Unit Class (e.g., weight or length).
- Define the Selling Unit and Purchase Unit:
- Example: Order by yards but receive and track in feet.
- Luminous will automatically convert between units when receiving inventory or creating purchase orders.
Step 6: Use Units of Measure in Assembly Orders
When creating assembly orders or bills of materials (BOMs):
- Specify the unit of measure for raw goods consumption.
- Flexibly manage consumption rates for raw materials based on your operational needs.
Step 7: Adjust Display Settings
- Go to System Settings:
- Click your name in the bottom-left corner.
- Select System Settings > Inventory Settings.
- Enable or disable the display of units of measure:
- Enabled: View base units of measure directly on the Stocks page.
- Disabled: Simplify the display for single-unit tracking.
By following these steps, you can effectively configure and use units of measurement in Luminous, ensuring precise inventory tracking and operational flexibility.
Video transcript
Where to find units of measure
This is going to be a quick tutorial about how to use units of measurement inside of Luminous. You'll find them underneath Inventory, then Inventory Admin and Units of Measure. There are a couple of tabs at the top that I'll go through and explain, so you fully understand what units of measure do in Luminous and how they can enhance your experience.
Unit classes
First, there's the concept of unit classes. Unit classes are basically the different ways you track inventory. By default it's quantity, so if you're tracking by each, that's going to be the most common. Other commonly used unit classes are length, weight, area, or even volume, if you're ordering liquids or things like that.
You can set up the base class here. If most of your inventory is tracked by quantity, that will remain your base class, but you can change it here. You can also edit the names of these classes from this view.
Units of measure
Probably most important are units of measure. Within each unit class, you can create specific units of measure. If you track things by weight, you might create units for pounds, kilograms or grams. For length, it might be feet, yards or inches. You can use multiple units of measure here.
You can see all the ones that have already been created. You can edit any of them or set one as the base unit. It's recommended that the base unit be the smallest unit of measure for that unit class. For weight, for example, grams might be the base unit. That's what all the other calculations are based on when we look at conversion rules.
Conversion rules
In Conversion Rules, you can see, for example, how many grams are in a kilogram. To create a conversion rule, I'll say I'm dealing with weight, and the base unit of measure here is milligrams. If I'm converting that to grams, a unit of measure we've already created, I can say there are 1,000 milligrams in a gram.
You can also choose whether the rule is system-wide or for a specific SKU. Choose SKU, search for that SKU, and set the rule accordingly. That's really helpful if, to get really creative, there's a different conversion for ordering oil versus water, for example a different conversion rate between milligrams and a volume unit. It gives you a little more flexibility.
Set units on a SKU
Now, how does that apply in the system? On the SKUs page, when you create or edit a SKU, you can choose the unit class. For this 10-foot rod, for example, I can change it to length.
Then I can choose the selling unit and the purchase unit. You might order something by the yard but receive it in feet, or something similar. You can write a PO in one unit of measure, and when you receive it, inventory is displayed based on the selling unit.
Units in assembly orders and BOMs
Another great thing in Luminous: when it comes to an assembly order or creating a bill of material, you can also choose the unit of measure you'll consume those raw goods in, which adds a little more flexibility in the system.
Show units on the Stocks page
One last thing with units of measure: click your name in the bottom left, click System Settings, and go to Inventory Settings. There you can choose to hide the unit of measure, or turn that off. With it turned off, the Stocks page will show the base unit of measure for your SKUs.
That gives you a better sense of what's what. If you have some inventory tracked by weight and other inventory by quantity, you can see the units of measure on the Stocks page for more clarity. That's about it. Thanks, guys.