Where the two units meet

The two units meet at every stage of the order.

  • Ordering: one customer orders 3 cases, another orders 5 singles of the same line.
  • Picking: the picker takes whole cases for one order and splits a case for the other.
  • Loading and selling: the van carries both, and the driver sells either.
  • Stock: the system shows the line as cases and singles, not a single confusing number.
  • Invoicing: each line is priced in the unit it was sold in.

What goes wrong without it

When a system only knows one unit, people convert in their heads. A case of 12 keyed as 1 becomes 1 single on the stock record. Split cases go uncounted. The stock figure drifts, and the error only shows at the next stock take.

Pricing cases and singles

A single often costs more per unit than the same product bought by the case. That price gap pays for the work of splitting. It needs to be set per product and carried through to the invoice, not worked out at the door.