Inventory of goods by measure: weight, length and printing of results

Inventory of Measured Goods in Torgsoft: Weight, Length, and Printing Results

When selling jewelry, fabrics, building materials, or goods sold by weight, counting products only by pieces does not always provide a complete and objective picture of stock levels, since the value and inventory of such goods directly depend on their weight, length, or area. The measured-goods inventory mode allows you not only to count the number of product units but also to record their actual measurements.

Business owners often ask the following questions: how to see the total weight or length of stock directly in the inventory statement, why the total measure is sometimes displayed in unusual units, how to correctly enter the actual weight from electronic scales during stocktaking, and how to configure result printing so that the warehouse worker can see not only pieces in the report, but also meters, grams, or carats. Below are detailed answers to these questions and the procedure for working with measured goods during inventory.

Key Columns and Basic Concepts for Inventory by Measure

To see product measurement information during stocktaking, you need to enable the corresponding columns in the "Goods in Inventory" form.

The main parameters used in this mode are:

• Measure — the physical value for one unit of goods, for example, the weight of one ring or the length of one roll in the specified units.

• Measure unit — a parameter that indicates how the measure of a specific product is expressed: grams, meters, square meters, etc.

• Total measure — the total measure value for the entire available stock of a particular product. This value is calculated as the number of product units multiplied by their measure.

• Reference unit of measurement — the base unit in the measurement system to which all other subordinate units are converted using a conversion factor (for example, a kilogram is the reference unit for grams).

Regarding the sometimes unclear display of the total measure: the «Total Measure» column always displays the final value in the reference unit of measurement. Therefore, to correctly interpret inventory results and avoid confusion, it is strongly recommended to place the «Total Measure» and «Reference Unit» columns next to each other on the screen.

Two Scenarios for Inventory of Measured Goods

Measure-based inventory in the software combines two main scenarios based on the corresponding additional options:

Scenario 1. Jewelry and weight-based inventory.

This scenario is used (provided that the «Inventory and Sale of Piece Goods with Measure» option is activated) when the product price is calculated per unit of measure, for example, per gram of metal. Goods in stock are recorded in pieces, but each piece has a clearly specified measure (weight). During inventory, the software allows you to check not only the presence of items but also the total measure (the total weight of all items in stock) in reference units of measurement.

Scenario 2. Metric inventory.

This scenario is used (when the «Metric Goods Calculator» option is available) for building and finishing materials such as tiles, laminate flooring, linoleum, cables, or fabrics, where goods are purchased by area or length. During inventory, such goods are recorded simultaneously in two units — in packages (or rolls) and in square or linear meters.

Entering Actual Weight and Length During Stocktaking

An inventory statement is created using the standard procedure through the document menu or from the warehouse status. During the actual stock count, the actual quantity must be recorded in the "Goods in Inventory" form.

To correctly enter measure data, use the "Ask for Quantity" setting (called with the Ctrl+Q key combination or the corresponding switch). After scanning the product barcode, the measure calculator window or the quantity entry window opens. In this window, the warehouse worker enters the actual counted value.

If connected electronic scales are used for jewelry or goods sold by weight, the actual weight can be transferred to the software directly from the scales, or the user can enter the product weight manually using the keyboard. After the actual data is entered, the counting completion flag is set for that item.

Printing Inventory Results with Measure Indicators

To address business owners’ need to display weight and length in printed reports (for example, in shortage, surplus, or general inventory results reports), Torgsoft allows flexible configuration of document templates.

Special variable fields related to measure have been added to the dataset for inventory report print templates:

• Measure unit;

• Measure per unit;

• Measure in the reference unit of measurement;

• Reference measure unit;

• Size and Material.

To display this data in the printed document, before printing the report the user needs to select the "Configure Report" option, open the template editor (FastReport), and add the required columns from the database to the table section of the document.

As a result, the warehouse worker or manager will receive a printed inventory statement where discrepancies, surpluses, and shortages are recorded not only in pieces but also in exact grams or meters.