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How to Use Units of Measure (UOMs) in ShipHero

Units of Measures (UOMs) are products that contain a specific quantity of a product. Treat UOMs as any other product in ShipHero, when receiving, transferring among locations, or picking and packing cases to fulfill an order.

 

Unit of Measure (UOM) Types

A Unit of Measure (UOM) can have up to 4 levels of nesting, each with different possible configurations:

  • Pallet Master Case Inner Pack Each
Unit of Measure Description Component
Eaches
(Base Product)
A base product is the individual unit of a particular product. A single SKU. N/A
Inner Pack Inner Packs are boxes containing a certain number of base products. All the products inside Inner packs must be of the same base product. If there is more than one type of SKU inside a UOM then it should be defined as a kit (not a UOM) Each
(One SKU)
Master Case Master Cases are larger cases containing a certain number of Inner Packs for the same SKU/Each or Eaches Inner Packs, Eaches
Pallet

Pallets contain stacked Master Cases or Eaches placed on a wooden frame.

Master Cases / Eaches

 

NOTE: ShipHero does not allow mixed pallets. You can only place Master Cases of the same Each or Eaches of one SKU on a pallet.

 

How to create a UOM

UOM SKUs can be created on the individual product or in bulk using the CSV upload feature.

NOTE:  To create a new UOM, the component of the UOM must have been previously created. Example: To create an Inner Pack, the Each component must have been previously created. To create a Master Case, the Inner Pack/Each component must have been previously created.

Creating a UOM by adding a new product

1. Log into ShipHero and navigate to Inventory > Products > “+ Add a product”.

2. Complete the Name and SKU of the UOM.

3. Check the new “This is a UOM item” option.

image-20240828-155627 (1).png

4. Select which Type of UOM you are creating: Pallets, Master Cases or Inner Packs.

5. Search and select the component.

6. Complete how many of the components this new UOM will contain.

7. Save product.

8. You will see the details of the new UOM created.

image-20240828-190918.png

 

Make a UOM at the Product Level

1. Log into ShipHero and navigate to Inventory > Products.

2. Search for and click on the product you want to make into a UOM. This product must be in the ShipHero system to be selected—for example, Master case (12 bars).

3. On the product page, scroll down to the Product UOM Components section.

image-20241121-151233.png

4. Select the UOM Type.

image-20241121-151308 (1).png

5. Search for the product component you want to make a UOM for.

6. Edit the components quantity in case value to the number of products within the case and hit Enter.

image-20241121-151337 (2).png

 

Note on Intermediate UOMs

If a UOM is part of a hierarchical structure as an intermediate unit (e.g., Pallet → Master Case → Inner Case → Each), you cannot remove its relationship with a lower-level component (e.g., between Inner Case and Each) while it is still linked to a higher-level UOM (e.g., Master Case or Pallet).

To break this relationship, you must first remove the intermediate UOM from its parent, following the hierarchy from the top down.

If you attempt to remove the relationship in the wrong order, you'll see an error message like the following:

 

Creating a UOM via CSV Upload

To create a UOM via CSV upload, you need to first create all Product SKUs (including eaches).

 The CSV upload feature will convert all required SKUs into UOMs creating the appropriate   nesting.

 

 Create Products in Bulk

 1. Log into ShipHero and navigate to > Inventory > Bulk Edit.

 2. Download the Product Template file.

 3. Input all new Product SKUs (E.g: Pallet-SKU 1, Pallet-SKU2, Master-Case-SKU1, etc.) and all   their information like dimensions.

 4. Upload the new products

 

Convert SKUs into UOM

1. Log into ShipHero and navigate to > My Account > CSV Managment

2. From the drop-down, choose UOM.

3. Download the CSV template and fill in the information. Fill in the information needed.

4. Save the CSV and upload the CSV to the desired warehouse.

Info: There is a limit of 800 rows per CSV file. If you have more UOMs to upload, please split them into multiple files.

 

 

 NOTE: The product should not have inventory or locations assigned to it before creating the   UOM. Add bins and inventory to the UOM afterward.

 

Creating a UOM SKU in the Receiving Page

When receiving inventory, you can receive it in any available UOM. If the correct UOM isn't available, you can create it directly on the receiving page.

1. Log into ShipHero and navigate to > PO ID > Receiving Page.

2. From the Accepted drop-down, you can choose in which UOM you want to receive

3. Click “Create UOM”

4. Complete all required fields: “UOM Type”, “UOM Name”, “UOM SKU”, “Length”, “Width”, “Height”, “Weight”, “UOM Barcode” (Optional)

5. UOM Content: Select Components and Quantities

6. Save

7. You will be able to receive in the new UOM

 

 Note: In ShipHero, UOMs are treated like any other SKU when receiving, picking, packing, or shipping.

 You cannot have multiple UOMs of the same sku in the same location.

 Following the example below:

  •  You cannot have "Cookie Pack" and "Cookie Case" in the same location.
  •  You cannot have "Cookie Case" and Cookie Each in the location.

 

How to print a UOM barcode during receiving

During receiving you can receive inventory using a different UOM than the one ordered by clicking on the dropdown and selecting the desired UOM. If you want to print the UOM barcode you can click the icon to view and print the barcode:

 

How Inventory is Calculated

The main difference between a regular product and a UOM is how we calculate the component inventory. UOMs have inventories of their own, but the inventory of their components includes other UOMs.

Here is a practical example:

  • I have two products: Soda Can and Soda 12-pack.
  • Soda 12-pack is a UOM of twelve Soda Cans.
  • Soda Can is stored in the pickable bin A-01.
  • Soda 12-pack is stored in the overstock bins C-01 and C-02.

Because Soda Can is a component of the Soda 12-pack UOM, its inventory includes the number of eaches within those UOMs, as illustrated below.

 Same logic applies for all nested components. When you receive a Pallet, the nested   components on-hand of that pallet will update too.

 

 If you receive an order for certain amount of eaches and you only have Pallets, the order will   be created but will not be pickable until you break the pallet into the corresponding UOM of the order.

 

Units of Measure (UOM) Inventory Allocation Strategy

Our inventory allocation now follows an improved strategy designed to ensure precise availability tracking:

We prioritize allocating inventory in the customer's requested Unit of Measure (UOM), such as "Eaches." If that's not possible but larger UOMs are available, the allocation logic now prioritizes:

  • Single-unit fulfillment: The system prioritizes allocating inventory from a single UOM unit that completely fulfills the requested quantity.

  • Optimal UOM selection: If multiple UOMs could fulfill the quantity, the system chooses the UOM that results in the fewest leftover units.

  • Largest available UOM: If no single UOM fully covers the requested quantity, the system selects the largest available UOM to maximize efficiency and accuracy.

The system dynamically determines which of these strategies to apply based on the conditions described above, ensuring real-time inventory accuracy, avoiding unnecessary breakdown of larger units, and significantly reducing the risk of availability mismatches or unexpected backorders.

 

How to Break UOMs

Break UOMs into a smaller UOM using the web app or when transferring inventory using the mobile app.

 

Using the Web App

1. Log into ShipHero and navigate to Inventory > Products.

2. Search for and click into the UOM you want to break into a smaller UOM.

3. On its page, scroll down to the Bins section.

4. Click Break into and select in which smaller UOM you want to convert all of its inventory into.

 

 

 

Using the Mobile App

Transfer Inventory

1. Log into ShipHero app and navigate to Inventory > Search items.

2. Search for and tap into the UOM you want to break into smaller UOMs.

3. On its page, tap into Edit Inventory > Location Transfer.

4. Select the location to transfer from by searching for it or scanning it.

5. Select a location assigned to the product that is the component of your UOM or an empty location.

6. Tap the option to “Break UOM into”, you will need to “Choose” into which smaller UOMs/Eaches you want to break the bigger UOM.

7. After selecting the smaller UOM and choosing how many units you want to transfer, you will see how many smaller UOMs you will get in the new location.

8. Click “Confirm” to save the action

 

 NOTE: UOMs cannot be transferred into a location assigned to a nested UOM product   (Component) without breaking the UOM into the smaller UOM.

 

Replenishment Report

1. Log into ShipHero and navigate to Inventory > Replenishment.

2. You will see the list of inventory to replenish

3. Click the location pill to see the list of possible locations to replenish from.

4. In the location list you will see the UOMs stored in those locations.

5. Selecting one of this locations will count the amount of needed inventory to replenish in the downside of the screen.

6. After selecting a location with a UOM, you can Save.

7. Back to the replenishment report page you can select the inventory with a location already assigned.

8. Click Replenish.

9. You can see the putway list, select the inventory to replenish.

10. You'll receive a message indicating that you're replenishing inventory from a larger unit of measurement. This will require you to divide it into smaller units.

11. Scan replenishment location

12. You will need to scan and pick the selected UOM. You will see how many UOM units are required (You can replen less if you want).

13. Next step is to Scan the putaway location (cannot be a location that contains a different nested UOM).

14. You will need to follow the steps shown in the page; open the bigger UOM, scan and place the smaller unit. You can only replenish an entire bigger UOMs, this means that if you bigger UOM contains 20 Eaches, you will need to replenish all of them.

15. A message will display the remaining units. In this example the Inner cases contains 10 Eaches so you will need to place all of them.

16. After scan and placing all the replenish units you will see a confirmation screen.

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