What's the difference between a product or material's unit of measurement and the purchase format?
In tspoonlab, it's crucial to understand and correctly manage products and their purchase formats. This is key to efficient control of stock and costs. In this article, we'll explain the difference between a product's unit of measurement and a supplier's purchase format.
For a better understanding, watch the video below where we explain this concept with examples. You can also keep reading the article to fully grasp the difference.
What is a product or material's unit of measurement?
The unit of measurement is the standard tspoonlab uses to work with ingredients in your recipes, calculate costs, and manage stock, regardless of the supplier's purchase format. For correct management, in tspoonlab use:
Kilograms (Kg) for solids.
Liters (L) for liquids.
Units (Uni) for products such as eggs or burger buns.
Bottles/Cans for drinks such as wines or soft drinks.
What is a supplier item's purchase format?
The minimum purchase format is the minimum quantity a supplier requires in order to sell a product. Some examples:
A supplier may require buying a box of 12 wine bottles instead of selling individual bottles.
Instead of loose liters, a supplier may sell 25-liter drums of oil.
For some products, they may require buying 10 kg sacks of flour.
On the other hand, some products can be bought with no minimum purchase format, such as certain proteins, vegetables, or spices.
Different purchase formats for the same product
In tspoonlab, the same product can be linked to multiple suppliers, each with its own purchase format. For example: one supplier sells avocados in bulk by the kilo, while another offers them in 30 kg crates. Even though the purchase formats differ, both correspond to the same product and are used the same way in recipes that need avocado.
Where to check a product or material's unit of measurement?
Open the product or material record in "Offer", then "Ingredients" or "Materials" as appropriate, and select the product or material you want, e.g. Sunflower Oil.
The unit shown below the product or material title is its unit of measurement.
To edit or change it, click the three dots inside the product or material record and click "Edit product" or "Edit material" as appropriate.
Find the "Unit" section in the pop-up window, where you can update the product's unit of measurement as needed.
Where to check a supplier item's purchase format?
Open the product or material record.
Go to the "Suppliers" section. Here you can see all the suppliers that supply the product.
Click the red arrow to expand each supplier's detailed purchase format for the item.
This way, you can manage the same product with different purchase formats depending on the supplier.
💡 Tip: When in doubt, remember that the generic product must have the format you'll use in your recipes, while the supplier item may be delivered in a different format.
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