Package definitions

A package definition specifies how items must be packed. If you use handling units, the package definition determines the handling unit structure and the packaging details for the handling units used to pack the items. If you do not use handling units, the package definition determines the way items are packed.

Package definitions exist on two levels, a general level and an item level. The general level includes general information on how items are packed and how the packing is structured. The item-level package definition is linked to an item, and the information on the way items are packed and how the packing is structured is adjusted for the item, thus a general-level package definition can be used as a basic template for item-level package definitions. The item-level package definition is used to generate handling units for order lines, receipts, advice, approvals, or shipments. A package definition on both general level and item level includes the following elements:

  • Identification code
    Package definitions are uniquely defined by means of the identification code.
  • Description
    The description is a free text that can provide some easy reference to the package definition.
  • Package definition type
    The package definition type determines how you can set up packaging structures for handling units and items.
  • Handling unit template
    A handling unit template stores information as to the packing materials used and the way the packing is structured. The packing materials refer to handling units. If you use a package definition to generate handling units for items listed on a particular order, shipment, and so on, the handling units are generated according to the package definition structure and the packing information defined for the handling unit template of the package definition. This results in the creation of the actual handling unit structures. Basically, a handling unit template is a generic handling unit structure.
Package definition types

In LN, the following types of package definitions are available:

  • Fixed package definitions
  • Variable package definitions
  • Mixed package definitions

You can use fixed package definitions with or without handling units. The variable and mixed types of package definitions are only available in combination with handling units.

Fixed package definitions

The fixed package definition is the only type of package definition that you can use with or without handling units. If you use handling units, the package definition determines the handling unit structure and the packaging information of the handling units used to pack the items. If you do not use handling units, the package definition determines the way the items are packed. A fixed package definition is used for the following types of items:

Note

Fixed package definitions are not used on receipt lines if:

  • Handling units are not used for the item on the receipt line.

  • Either of the following applies:

    • The receipt is by component
    • The item is a low volume serialized item

A packing structure for a fixed package definition can include multiple packaging items, but only one type of tradeable item. A pallet cannot include (packing materials for) sour cream and yoghurt in addition to milk cartons, as shown in the following picture.

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If handling units are used, a fixed package definition includes a handling unit template in which the number of packaging items and items is fixed.

The user uses storage units from Common to define the number of packaging items for each node. When a fixed package definition is linked to an item, the following takes place:

  • LN uses the conversion factors of the storage units defined for each node to calculate the fixed number of packaging items for each node. For example, if the conversion factor for storage unit Pallet and storage unit Box is 50, a pallet has 50 boxes.
  • The handling unit template of the package definition is copied to an item-level handling unit template. The user can modify this structure to adjust the structure for the specific item.

Fixed package definitions are useful if items are always packed in the same way.

Variable package definitions

A variable package definition is used to define handling unit structures for the following types of items:

A handling unit structure of a variable package definition can include multiple packaging items, but only one type of tradeable item. To use the previous example, a pallet cannot include (packing materials for) sour cream and yoghurt in addition to milk. List items and BOM items can include various component items, but you cannot specify how component items are packed.

The relations between the nodes of the handling unit structure are user-definable. This means that, unlike fixed package definitions, you can specify the number of packing items per node both on general and item-level handling unit templates without referring to the storage units and conversion factors defined in Common. In addition, you can define various nodes with various packaging items for all nodes except the top node.

Example

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In this picture, box A and box B represent nodes 2 and 3, which are both on the second node level just below the top level. The pallet includes 10 boxes of type A and 25 boxes of type B. Box A contains 50 items X and box B contains 30 items X.

You can use the same variable package definition to define handling unit structures for individual items and add or delete nodes and specify several numbers of packaging items for the nodes. Therefore, this method is a more flexible way of defining package structures than the fixed package definition.

Variable package definitions are useful, for example, for items that are sold to various business partners with various packing requirements.

Example

Package definition Z consists of one pallet X, 15 boxes type A and 40 boxes type B. Package definition Z is linked to item 0001, item 0002, and item 0003.

  • 150 items 0001 are packed in 3 boxes type A.
  • 100 items 0002 are packed in 2 boxes type A.
  • 300 items 0003 are packed in 10 boxes type A
  • 400 items 0003 are packed in 40 boxes type B.
Mixed package definitions

Mixed package definitions are used to define handling unit structures that include more than one type of item.

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However, you can only link items to a mixed package definition on the general package definition level. You cannot define mixed package definitions on item level. Mixed package definitions are used to validate manually created free-style handling units. If you manually define handling units for multiple items listed on an order, you can validate the manually created handling unit setup against a mixed package definition that includes a handling unit template for those items and handling units. Validating is used to prevent mistakes from being made when you manually create handling units.

Handling unit templates

A handling unit template is one of the elements of a package definition. The handling unit template defines how handling units are used to pack particular items. A handling unit template includes a hierarchical structure that consists of several nodes that are related in a parent - child fashion. Each node represents a generic handling unit.

Example

For example, a fluid item such as milk is packed in cartons, the cartons are packed in boxes of twenty cartons each, and 50 boxes are placed on a pallet.

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  • Top
    The top node includes the whole structure. In the previous example, the pallet is the top node.
  • Parent
    A node that ranks higher than another node. A parent node includes one or more children. In the previous example, the boxes are the parent nodes of the milk cartons. At the same time, the pallet (the top node) is the parent of the boxes, thus the boxes are the children of the pallet.
  • Child
    A node that is linked to a parent. In the previous example, the milk cartons are the children of the boxes.

A node includes the following information:

  • The parent node to which the node belongs (except for the top node, of course).
  • The packing item that is used for the node. In the previous example, the packing item for the top node is pallet, and for the children of the top node the packing item is box.
  • For package definitions of the variable and mixed type, the number of packing items used for the node. In the previous example, the number of packing items for the top node is one (one pallet), and for the second node the number is 50 (50 boxes per pallet). For fixed packaging definitions, the number of packaging items is determined in a different way.
  • For variable and mixed package definitions, the number of items that the packaging item must contain. For variable and mixed package definitions, this number is displayed for both the general-level and the item-level handling unit template. For fixed packaging definitions, the number of items is only displayed for the item-level handling unit template.
  • The node is labeled or unlabeled. Labeled means that for each packing item defined for the node, a label record is created. In this way, each existing packing item is uniquely identified. These labels can be printed. If the boxes with milk cartons from the previous example are labeled, each box obtains a label when handling units are generated for an order for milk cartons.
  • Auxiliary packing material, such as sealing plastic that is used for the node.

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