Catch Weight functionality

In Distribution SX.e, you can stock a product in one unit of measure, and sell the product in a different unit of measure. You can also assign a special price or cost to that product. With catch weight functionality, you can also handle products with a variable weight, or bulk products that have a variable end product weight. Most catch weight products do not have a consistent conversion rate for a given unit of measure. When activated and configured, this functionality manages the unit of measure, the conversion, and the recalculation required to stock and sell a catch weight product.

To use this functionality, activate catch weight for purchase orders, sales orders, or both. Then, set up a product as a catch weight product. You can require an actual catch weight be specified at the line level when the product is received from the vendor, and when the product is shipped to your customer. The unit conversion is recalculated, providing you with a more precise cost, price, and inventory valuation.

For example, your company buys frozen turkeys by the case. The expected weight of a case is 50 pounds. With a purchase order, you order two cases. Your replacement cost is $0.40 per pound. The estimated purchase cost is $40.00. When the order is received, during Purchase Receipt of Inventory Entry, you weigh each case. Case 1 weighs 47 pounds. Case 2 weighs 43 pounds. You specify the catch weight as 90 pounds. The catch weight unit conversion is recalculated. Your actual purchase cost is $36.00.

Then, your customer orders 1 case of turkeys. The base/list price is $0.90. Your customer's estimated cost is $45.00. When the order is shipped, during Sales Shipping Feedback Entry, you weigh the case. The case weighs 47 pounds. The catch weight unit conversion is recalculated. Your customer's actual price is $42.30.

As each order is received or shipped, the inventory balances are updated with the catch weight quantities; the general ledger accounts are credited and debited with the catch weight amounts.

Setup

You must activate catch weight functionality, then set up catch weight products. Planning and coordination is required to set up the product data, and associated functions and settings, such as stocking unit, selling unit, unit conversion, warehouse product, warehouse, vendor, and pricing data. After setup, you should modify your workflow so your procedural tasks reflect how you will use the catch weight functionality. The more effort you put into planning and setup, the more successful you can be in effectively using the functionality.

The stocking unit should be the base unit of measure for a product and be weight-related [such as, pounds, ounces, kilograms]. As a best practice, we recommend that the stocking unit be the smallest unit in which a product can be sold, purchased, or stocked. This is because all other units are based off the stocking unit.

You can set up tolerances. When catch weights are entered, the variance is calculated as the difference between the expected weight and the actual catch weight as a percentage or an amount. A message is displayed notifying you that a weight is outside the accepted tolerances.

Note: The stage at which you create back orders is restricted if you use catch weight functionality. This restriction may affect settings in SA Administrator Options and Product Warehouse Description Setup. See information about limitations and best practices.

See related topics about activating the functionality and setting up a catch weight product.

Validations and actions

Validations and actions occur in these functions to support catch weight functionality:

  • Purchase Receipt of Inventory Entry: You can require an actual catch weight be specified at the line level when the product is received from the vendor. If this functionality is activated and set up for purchase orders, the Actual Total Weight column in the Line Items grid is enterable based on conditions. The Stage for this order must Ordered or Printed. A value must be specified in the Actual Total Weight field; otherwise a message is displayed: Actual Weight Must be Entered for All Catch Weight Lines (7193). You cannot continue with shipping this order until this value is specified. When receiving catch weight products, the Unit column is set to read-only. The Unit value must remain consistent between ordering and receiving so that the catch weight calculation can determine the new unit conversion correctly.

  • Sales Shipping Feedback Entry: You can require an actual catch weight be specified at the line level when the product is shipped to your customer. If this functionality is activated and set up for sales orders, the Actual Total Weight column in the Line Items grid is enterable based on conditions. The Stage for this order must Ordered or Picked. A value must be specified in the Actual Total Weight field, otherwise, a message is displayed: Actual Weight Must be Entered for All Catch Weight Lines (7193). You cannot continue with shipping this order until this value is specified.

  • Product Warehouse Product Setup: Validation prevents catch weight products from being designated as serial products, or being set up in Consignment, Storeroom, or Rental warehouses.

  • Product Reallocation Entry: Catch weight products cannot be specified as criteria. An error message is displayed: Catch Weight Product Not Allowed - ICSP (5638). Reallocation of catch weight product inventory from one order to another can cause problems with keeping order and product inventories in balance.

  • Purchase Entry RRAR Merge Process Report: When creating purchase orders for a catch weight product, that product's Catch Weight Product setting is included in the new PO line.

  • Purchase Order Entry-Copy: If you copy an order containing products designated as a Catch Weight Product, the designation is validated based on current settings in SA Administration-Administrator Options-Products-Defaults, and Product Setup-General. If valid, the designation is copied. If an Actual Total Weight value has been specified for this line, that value is set to zero for the copied order. The latter allows the actual weight to be specified when this copied order is received during Purchase Receipt of Inventory Entry. Similar action is taken when creating these lines:

    • When Purchase Order lines are backordered, new POEL records are created for the remaining order quantity. The Catch Weight product designation remains the same as the parent line (-00 suffix). Actual Total Weight is set to zero.

    • When tied purchase order lines are created from tied sales order lines or from external process sections on a Value Add order, new POEL records are created. The Catch Weight product designation remains the same as the parent line (-00 suffix). Actual Total Weight is set to zero.

  • Sales Order Entry: If you copy an order containing products designated as a Catch Weight Product, the designation is validated based on current settings in SA Administration-Administrator Options-Products-Defaults and Product Setup-General. If valid, the designation is copied. If an Actual Total Weight value has been specified for this line, that value is set to zero for the copied order. The latter allows the actual weight to be specified when this copied order is shipped during Sales Shipping Feedback Entry. Similar action is taken when creating these lines:

    • When Sales Order lines are backordered, new OEEL records are created for the remaining order quantity. The Catch Weight product designation remains the same as the parent line (-00 suffix). Actual Total Weight is set to zero.

    • When Blanket Order lines are created, new OEEL records are created. The Catch Weight product designation remains the same as the parent line (-00 suffix). Actual Total Weight is set to zero.

    • When Warranty Exchange lines are created, new OEEL records are created. The Catch Weight product designation remains the same as the parent line (-00 suffix). Actual Total Weight is set to zero.

  • Sales Shipping Feedback Entry: If a backorder already exists for the line, you are blocked from making change to a line. This avoids balancing issues for both of the sales orders and inventory balances for the Catch Weight product. Changes to Back Order, Quantity Shipped or Actual Total Weight are blocked and an error message is displayed: Backorder Exists; Cannot Change Critical Catch Weight Line Information (7212).
    Note: This restriction may affect your workflow based on the stage you typically create back orders. See information about limitations and best practices.

  • Sales Entry Invoice Processing Report: If you have activated the catch weight functionality, the Actual Total Weight value must be specified in theActual Total Weight field of Sales Shipping Feedback Entry: If you copy. If not specified, a message is displayed and the order will not invoice: Actual Weight Must be Entered for All Catch Weight Lines (7193). You cannot continue with invoicing this order until this value is specified during shipping.

  • Sales Pre-Invoice Exceptions Report: If you have activated the catch weight functionality, the Actual Total Weight value must be specified in the Actual Total Weight field of Sales Shipping Feedback Entry. If not specified, a message is displayed and the order will not invoice: Actual Weight Must be Entered for All Catch Weight Lines (7193). You cannot continue with invoicing this order until this value is specified during shipping.

Visibility, inquiry, and reporting

Catch weight product data is visible in these functions:

  • Product Inquiry: The Catch Weight Product (Yes) field is included in the General Details information.

  • Product Master List Report: These catch weight-related fields are included in the report: Catch Weight Prod, Catch Tolerance %, Catch Tolerance Amt, PO Catch Weight Tracking, OE Catch Weight Tracking.

  • Sales Order Entry: The Catch Weight Product (Yes) field is included in the Select Product-Advanced Line Entry-Extended Fields. The settings in SA Administrator Options and Product Setup initiates the tracking in the order entry background at line level, ensuring that Sales Shipping Feedback Entry prompts for Actual Total Weight.

  • Sales Customer Pricing Inquiry: The Catch Weight Product (Yes) field is included in the Pricing tab, General section.

  • Sales Order Inquiry: In the Line Detail tab, Catch Weight Product and Actual Total Weight columns are included in the grid. Drilldown on a record in the grid, and in the Extended tab, static fields for Catch Weight Product and Actual Total Weight are displayed.

  • Sales Order Master List Report: For an appropriate line, Catch Weight Product and Actual Total Weight fields are included in the report.

  • Purchase Order Entry: The Catch Weight Product (Yes) field is included in the Select Product-Extended Fields. The settings in SA Administrator Options and Product Setup initiates the tracking in the background at the order entry line level, ensuring that Purchase Receipt of Inventory Entry prompts for Actual Total Weight.

  • Purchase Order Inquiry: In the Line Detail tab, Catch Weight Product and Actual Total Weight columns are included in the grid. Drilldown on a record in the grid, and in the Extended tab, static fields for Catch Weight Product and Actual Total Weight are displayed.

  • Purchase Master List Report: For an appropriate line, Catch Weight Product and Actual Total Weight fields are included in the report.

Limitations and best practices

These are the limitations to what types of products can be catch weight, and best practices for their use:

  • A catch weight product cannot be a nonstock or catalog product. It cannot be a kit, tally, core, or serial product. A catch weight product cannot be setup in a warehouse designated as Consignment, Storeroom, or TWL.

  • A Direct Order sourced to a Purchase Order does not prompt for Actual Total Weight during costing in Vendor Invoice Center Entry. Best practice is to ensure the purchase order is received correctly before costing the purchase order.

  • Catch weight is not tracked through all inventory functions, such as transfers, cycle counts, physical inventory. Because transfers are not tracked, Direct Order Warehouse Transfers do not prompt for Actual Total Weight during shipping. Best practice is to avoid DO-WT for catch weight products.

  • Mass maintenance of orders does not support catch weight processing or entry of Actual Total Weights. We recommend that no changes be made to lines, quantity ordered or shipped, or unit of measure with SA Mass Maintenance Administration.

  • Birst extracts for catch weight are available only through related product tables. See the supported tables for Birst extraction listed in the Infor CloudSuite Distribution Configuration Guide.

  • Catch weight processing is not supported for Total Warehouse Logistics (TWL). It is not supported for these integrations: Infor Rhythm for Commerce, Infor Distribution Storeroom, and Infor Service Management. It is not supported for GlobalShip by Logicor.

  • If you intend to track actual weights for items that have shrinkage, the product amount removed from inventory is based on the actual weight being shipped. Best practice is to handle adjustments for shrinkage in the remaining quantity on hand during regular cycle or physical counts. A standard accounting practice should be followed to post to General Ledger.

  • As a best practice, we recommend that catch weight products not be fully tendered until the Actual Total Weight is known. An adjustment made for a total weight may affect order totals, which might require a refund or additional charge.

    To avoid balancing issues for the catch weight product, the stage at which you create back orders is restricted if you use catch weight functionality. Your business practices may have the setting for SA Administrator Options-Documents-Sales Orders-Back Orders-Create OE Back Orders At Stage specified at Ordering (1) or Picking (2). If you are using catch weight functionality, this setting must be Shipping (3) or Invoicing (4). This setting must also be Shipping (3) or Invoicing (4) for Product Warehouse Description Setup-Extended-Create Order Entry Back Orders At Stage. For example, if a backorder has been created during stage 1 or 2, when you attempt to ship a partial order in Sales Shipping Feedback Entry, you are blocked from entering a catch weight due to the backorder. You are prevented from shipping the line. However, if a backorder is not created until shipping, when you attempt to ship a partial order, you can enter the catch weight because the backorder does not exist yet. Review your business practices to determine whether this restriction affects your current settings. If your catch weight products are not likely to be backordered, the effect of this restriction may be minimal.

BOD changes

The Actual Total Weight field value (oeel.totcatchweight) per line is contained in the AuxiliaryQuantity element in these BODs:

  • Sync.SalesOrder: SalesOrderLine/AuxiliaryQuantity

  • Sync.Invoice: InvoiceLine/AuxiliaryQuantity

  • Sync.Shipment: ShipmentItem/ShippedAuxiliaryQuantity

The Sync.PurchaseOrder BOD does not contain any elements for auxiliary quantities or weight measures, and was not changed for this enhancement.

Error messages

These are catch weight-specific error messages:

  • Catch Weight Only Allowed for Special Price/Cost Products (4968)

  • Catch Weight Product Cannot be a Kit/Tally Product (4969)

  • Catch Weight Product Cannot be a Core Product (4970)

  • Catch Weight Product Cannot be a Serial Product (4971)

  • Catch Weight Product Not Allowed in Consignment Warehouse (4972)

  • Catch Weight Product Not Allowed in Storeroom Warehouse (4973)

  • Catch Weight Product Not Allowed - ICSP (5638)

  • Actual Weight Must be Entered for All Catch Weight Lines (7193)

  • Backorder Exists; Cannot Change Critical Catch Weight Line Information (7212)

  • Warning: Catch Weight Tolerance Has Been Exceeded (8805)

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