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Learn to use Complex Unit of Measures in Odoo Purchasing and Manufacturing

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Often in manufacturing and distribution operations you may purchase a product in one unit of measure... for example you may purchase something by the case but then sell that product in single units.This video explores handling complex unit of measure requirements in Odoo with a real world example.

Video Length: 47 minutes

Learn how to manage multiple Unit of Measure (UOM) in Odoo

Odoo utilizes Unit of Measure categories to group unit of measures so they can be easily converted from one type to another. In this video you will learn how to configure Odoo to purchase in one unit of measure, inventory the raw materials in a different unit of measure, and then use a different unit of measure to manufacture the end product. Actually implementing multiple unit of measures is not difficult in Odoo once you learn how. Unfortunately it can take a little bit of experience and patience to work through all the details. This video therefore provides a complete example that walks through the process step by step.

Using a business example to make it easy to understand

In this video, we use a simplified manufacturing example of producing cat food to demonstrate how five different unit of measures can be used through the process. We purchase our raw materials of Chicken and Spinach by the tonnes. We then inventory that product in pounds and finally create manufacturing work orders that can tell us exactly how many ounces of raw material go into each can of cat food. Finally our end product, cans of cat food, will be inventoried in units. Those units are then typically sold by the dozens to distributors. This complete business example will give you the insight you need how Odoo handles Unit of Measure.

Builds on what was learned in Purchasing and Manufacturing

While this video is only 47 minutes long it covers quite a lot of territory. We setup products, purchase, create bill of materials, and create manufacturing orders. For a new Odoo user, this video maybe a bit too advanced. At the bottom you will see alternative videos that are somewhat pre-requisites to this video. In this video we assume you already understand the basics of Odoo purchase management and the Odoo MRP application. While we walk through each step by step we also assume you understand the basics of setting up a product and how to create a bill of materials.

Why would I need to use multiple units of measure?

One very popular real business occurance is that a company purchases something in one unit of measure it maybe different than the unity of measure they sell that product in. For example a company may purchase cans of dog food by the case, yet sell individual units in their store. In this example the unit of measure for sales would be each while you would purchase in cases.

Does Odoo handle multiple unit of measures automatically?

Odoo makes it relatively easy to manage multiple unit of meaures. Once properly configured, Odoo will automatically do the calculations necessary to convert unit of measure appropriately depending on the transaction. Expect however to spend some time working with unit of measures to get everything configure correctly.

What are ratios and how do they apply to units of measure in Odoo?

While Odoo will do conversions for you automatically you still need to tell Odoo exactly how to do the conversion when it occurs. You only have to set it up one time and then after that, Odoo will do the translations automatically. Ratios are how you tell Odoo how many units are in a case. Perhaps for our example would set that ratio to 24. Then we configure Odoo to use the 'each' unit of measure for stock inventory. When we purchase a case and receive into inventory, we end up with 24 cans in inventory.