Catch unit is a unit of measure parallel to the inventory unit of measure, primarily used to make a correct price conversion based on the current catch quantity, e.g., weighted weight. For certain products, a fixed conversion rate between the inventory unit of measure and the price unit of measure is not possible to use because the conversion factor varies too much. To overcome this, the catch unit of measure feature can be used. This requires you to, for instance, update the picked quantity in both the inventory and the catch unit of measure to maintain an accurate conversion rate.
A typical example where the catch unit is used would be for frozen chicken, which are stored in pieces (the inventory unit of measure), but priced in kilograms (the price and catch unit of measure). Each received lot/batch is reported in pieces and kilograms. When the lot/batch is sold, the system will use the pick reported weight to calculate the price.
Note: Even though chicken is likely to be handled using the lot/batch feature, the lot/batch feature is not required to use the catch unit.
The catch quantity entered will always be accepted by the system even though the quantity may not be realistic. The catch unit feature that enables the parallel unit of measure, also facilitates the tracking of two different units of measure per transaction. These two units of measure however, cannot be converted from one to the other using a standard unit of measure. While the parallel unit of measure enables pricing of both standard and non-standard items, it must be noted that it is not possible to use the catch quantity for inventory revaluation, which only can be done for inventory quantity.
The catch unit feature is beneficial to companies operating in industries such as fresh food, beverage, or dairy where the use of catch unit enables keeping track of the product in two different units of measure. Such companies benefit from the catch unit feature in terms of accuracy, visibility, and profitability.
Where service levels play an important part in a company in any industry, the catch unit provides the opportunity to view the available quantity on hand expressed in two parallel units of measure. Thereby, efficiently enabling to match the supply with the customer demands, and to improve customer satisfaction.
Prior to using the catch unit, you must have entered some basic data.
Note: It is not possible to remove or modify the entered catch unit of measure code in the Inventory Part window. However, you can enable or disable the catch unit feature as and when required, unless a quantity exists in transit, which will result in an error.
Catch unit enabled parts are not intended to be used in the following processes. For some of the processes mentioned below, you may be forced to turn off the catch unit feature to complete the activity.
For all the activities where the catch unit enabled parts can be issued, the issued quantity has to be expressed in both the inventory unit of measure and the catch unit of measure. The catch quantity entered can be any positive value, and the system will accept this be it realistic or not. The only exception is when the full inventory quantity at a location is issued, the corresponding catch quantity is used.
Automatically performed material issues are accepted, provided the full inventory quantity at a certain location is used. In cases where you try to automatically issue just a portion of the quantity on a location, the background job will fail as the system cannot determine which catch quantity to use. Resolve the problem by using a manual procedure.
With regard to issuing a quantity pertaining to processes and activities where the catch unit is not fully supported, the following must be noted:
When performing an issue, a message on part uses catch unit and therefore you must enter the catch quantity may be displayed, to which you have the following options:
Note:
For all activities where the catch unit enabled parts can be received, the received quantity has to be expressed in both the inventory unit of measure and the catch unit of measure. The catch quantity entered can be any positive value and the system will accept this be it realistic or not.
As long as the catch quantity at the location has no value for catch unit enabled parts, you will have to perform a counting, and enter the catch quantity before any receipt transaction is allowed for that location. This is true even in situations when receiving from transit.
If you disable catch unit handling for a part to be able to issue the part to a project, and later on re-enable catch unit handling, you cannot un-issue the part since the project is not intended to use the catch unit feature. To un-issue in this case, you have to turn off the catch unit feature.
However, if you have issued a catch unit enabled part to a project (or any of the above stated processes where limitations exist), you can perform an un-issue of the whole quantity issued.
When performing a receipt, a message on catch unit is enabled and catch quantity must be defined on the location to allow any transaction and therefore perform counting may be displayed, to which you have the following options:
In situations where you just receive a quantity on a location using an automatic procedure, the background job will fail. Resolve the problem by using a manual procedure.