How do I use multiple Units of Measure in Sage ERP X3?

A general issue for many ERP applications on the market is that you can only use one unit of measure (UOM) for same type transactions. While the same limitation exists in Sage ERP X3 we now have help! In Sage ERP X3, the UOM in Sales Orders, Purchase Orders, Stock Transactions and other places can be different (conversion coefficient between them is used for consistency), but only one UOM can be used in one transaction type. For example, you cannot use “pieces” as one UOM and “inches” at the same time in any transaction.
Mantralogix to the rescue! Recently the Mantralogix team created a solution that allows four different UOM at the same time in Sales Orders.
Here is a practical example. A client is in the business of cutting metal pipes per their customers’ requests. Every piece has its own unique length. It can be in millimeters or feet and inches. The number of pieces ordered has to be presented in Sales Orders as well. The stock units of measure is defined as feet. Also for production, inventory, and charging customers every piece’s length has to be rounded to the next nearest foot.
The Mantralogix solution?: New fields were created and shown in the Sales Order screen: # of pieces, metric, feet, inches and stock feet. New functionality was added to each of the fields as well.
For the metric length – number of pieces is entered and length of pieces in millimeters is entered as well. The program converts length in millimeters to feet and inches. For stock purposes feet and inches are rounded to the nearest foot and shown for the stock feet. Then the number of feet is multiplied by the number of pieces ordered. The stock quantity field is populated with the final amount of feet for inventory purposes and in order to charge the client.
For the imperial units length – number of pieces is entered and length in feet and Inches is entered as well (it can be feet only or inches only). Feet and Inches are converted and rounded to the stock feet. Then the number of feet is multiplied by the number of pieces ordered. The stock quantity field is populated with the final amount of feet for inventory purposes and in order to charge the client.
On the screenshot below you can see that 777 millimeters are converted to 2 feet and 6.59 inches. The size is attributed to one piece of pipe only, therefore it is rounded to the nearest foot and is showing in the stock feet field as 3. For production and inventory valuation purposes it has to be treated as 3 feet. The client will be charged for 15 feet (5 pieces x 3 feet).

This functionality will allow users to enter metric or imperial units of measure and use the number of pieces when creating Sales Order for special order items. Also, the data entry process is simplified and the risk of human error is minimized since there is no manual conversion in imperial from metric units of measure. Most important – the number of pieces and length can be used at the same time!
Mantralogix is a strategic Sage partner and has worked with many customers during their Sage ERP X3 implementations. Please call us at 1-866-320-8922 if you have any questions about this blog or other ERP functionality!