Unit of Measure and the Inventory Module

[ChurchPenguin]

01/15/2024 - Unit of Measure feature is currently still in BETA

We've had the unit of measure feature enabled on our account to aid with keeping track of job costing for some materials such as rolls of wire. Rather than treat the wire as a consumable and have the techs add the item to a job as they get low on it (which is how we handle all consumables), having the wire counted by the foot would give us more accurate job costing. 

In theory, adding a conversion for a unit of measure seems like a basic function. Purchasing an item from a vendor and using it in a different manner, such that for wire - which is generally purchased per roll to limit the number of times that a technician needs to visit a supply house or our warehouse - the purchased item is per roll but used per foot.

In practice the following occurs:

1. Set up unit of measurement per item with the base unit. - In this case it's per foot as the base unit as that's how it's used on the job.
2. If purchasing the item from a vendor in a different unit of measurement (UoM), you would add another UoM to convert the foot to the roll and set up the vendor information, which should pull it from the pricebook. - In
3. this case, we're multiplying the default base unit by 250 to get 1 roll = 250 foot.
4. Set up the templates to reflect the new UoM. - The trucks carry a roll, but also in per foot, so 250 foot, while the replenishment warehouse and vendor carry it by the roll. 

The templates will show the min/max and unit of measure:

Template Name	Type	Bin Location	Min	Max	Unit of Measure
Replenishment Warehouse	Warehouse	R15-S02-B01	2	3	roll
Electrical	Truck	Rear	100	250	foot

With all of the adjusted, we should see something like the following for the inventory counts:

Location	Unit of Measure	Quantity
Replenishment Warehouse	roll	4
Electrical Truck #1	foot	250

In reality, it's this:

Location	Unit of Measure	Quantity
Replenishment Warehouse		1000
Electrical Truck #1		250

Ok, that makes some sense. ServiceTitan is producing the base UoM for the item, which in this case is a foot. The replenishment screen doesn't show that anything needs to be replenished at the warehouse since the current count is over the maximum. 

If attempting a transfer, we can adjust the UoM to reflect how we're actually transferring the item. Since ST knows that it's 1 roll = 250 foot, I can transfer 2 rolls from the warehouse to the truck, and it knows that I'm transferring 500 feet.

Alternatively, if I want to perform a count at my warehouse location, I move to the Inventory Counts screen and create a cycle count for that one item... After performing the count at the warehouse, knowing that the warehouse is counted per roll, I enter 4 for the count and submit it.

The results show that I'm missing 996 feet at my warehouse!

Since no UoM is available through the Inventory Mobile App, ST defaults to the base UoM set up for that item and disregards the UoM for the template.

Furthermore, if I attempt to create a PO that uses a different vendor other than the default, as set up in the UoM activation, ST will override any information in the vendor part # and cost to the defaul for the UoM. If Lowe's sells the wire under part # 555 for $50, when I select how that item is purchased (the UoM), ST overwrite the information as the default vendor's information without updating the vendor that the PO will be set to. This means that Lowe's would receive a request for wire under part # 100 for $75 (which is what the default vendor is), which means I would either have the PO rejected or I would receive a product that I did not order.

I get that the unit of measure feature is in beta, but these are some bugs to work out.

[ksturdivan]

UoM was an incredibly important feature in our last software, and we have had nothing but issues with it in ServiceTitan.

It converts back to the original UoM when we print a pick sheet, when we assign a procurement source and when we create POs. While the latter two create a hang-up in our workflow, the pick sheet issue is a recipe for disaster if it is not caught prior to staging. We have also had issues with conversion, like you mentioned in your post.

We don't even use it anymore because, as a company with 250 employees, it was far more of a hassle than it was worth. But, truthfully, not having it is almost as much of a hassle... just without the headache.

While I am glad to hear this is a beta feature (I thought it was just a poorly done released feature), I really do wish they would put more focus on getting the issues fixed so this can be fully rolled out. We have been on ST for a year and a half now and it is still just as seemingly unusable as it was when we first went live.

[bboozer]

Does it show UoM in the inventory app when doing counts? Our technicians are constantly having to do re-counts because they dont see that for example solder sticks come in packs of 28 but we inventory per stick but they assume its per pack and mark it as 1.

[ChurchPenguin]

No, the UoM feature is not fully integrated with the rest of the Pricebook or the Inventory Mobile App. The feature is still in beta without a clear release date.

[Eric_Skrabec]

Thank you for sharing this! This is super helpful to know as I am getting set up with the ST Mobile App now. Is the UoM in BETA for the mobile app, desktop, or both? 

[ChurchPenguin]

The unit of measure feature is still in beta, regardless of which application.

[Sheena_Palacios]

@ChurchPenguin -- this is great insight for others who may be trying to figure out why this is happening to them. Thanks for sharing!

- Sheena @ NiFT