Add Packaging Strings to Items

If one of your items has a non-standard UOM conversion specific to that item itself, you can add a predefined packaging string when you create or edit an item, or define a new packaging string to fit your requirements.

Select Packaging Strings

If your item needs to specify a packaging string, you might be able to select one from a list of packaging strings that have already been defined.

On the Create Item or Edit Item page, select a Primary Unit of Measure for the item.

Tip:
If you're not sure what unit of measure to select, open the Search and Select: Primary Unit of Measure dialog and try searching in the UOM Class Description field, which provides fuller naming information for the units in use.
Select a Packaging String for the item.

The packaging strings available for selection are restricted to those that include the Primary Unit of Measure that you selected. This restriction also applies to the packaging strings that you can select in the Search and Select: Packaging String dialog. It's possible that the desired packaging string hasn't been defined yet.

Create Packaging Strings

If the list of packaging strings available for an item doesn't include the one you need, you can create one directly while creating or editing the item, without going to the Setup and Maintenance work area.

To create a packaging string:

On the Create Item or Edit Item page, select the Primary Unit of Measure needed for the item.
Click the plus icon ( + ) on the Packaging String field.
The Define Packaging String wizard dialog displays these fields on the Select UOMs step:
- Base UOM Name, which is the base UOM of the UOM class of the available UOMs
- UOM Class, which is the UOM class of the Primary Unit of Measure that you selected for the item
- A list of Available UOMs for the new packaging string, comprised of all the UOMs defined for the UOM class.
  
  You can't add UOMs directly to the list here. To add UOMs to the list of available UOMs, you must use the Manage Units of Measure task in the Setup and Maintenance work area.
Add the UOMs that you want to include in the new packaging string by using the shuttle control to move them from the list of available UOMs to the list of selected UOMs.

The base UOM is automatically a selected UOM, because it must always be part of the packaging string.

You can't define a packaging string with more than 10 UOMs.
Use the controls on the Selected UOMs list to determine the order of the UOMs in the packaging string. The base UOM must always be the first UOM in the packaging string. You should arrange the UOMs from smallest at the top of the shuttle control field to largest at the bottom, following your desired progression of packaging.

Click Next when the selection and order of UOMs is what you need for your new packaging string.
The Define Multipliers step of the wizard displays a default Packaging String composed of the UOMs you selected, but only if the UOMs have standard conversions that divide evenly between each other. The Define Multipliers table contains a row for each UOM conversion in the packaging string, each with a default multiplier.

Note that the sequence of the UOMs in the table matches the sequence that you selected in the previous step. Click Back if you need to adjust the sequence.
In the Multiplier field for each row, enter the number that defines how many of the UOM in the Content UOM field equals the UOM in the UOM Name field.
Repeat the previous step for each UOM that makes up the packaging string. After you enter all new multipliers or accept the defaults, click Recalculate, which updates all the displayed UOM conversions, and enables the Save and Close button.
Click Save and Close. The new packaging string appears in the Packaging String field of the item details page.

Example of a Packaging String

Assume that your item is a medical glove used in hospitals. You need a packaging string that tracks how the gloves are ordered and dispensed.

The units used in your customer's hospital are:

1 glove is dispensed as each.
120 gloves are stored in each room, in a box.
24 boxes are stored in a unit, in a carton.
16 cartons are stored in the supply room, in a case.
The hospital orders gloves by the case.

The UOMs and conversion multipliers required for this example are:

Base Unit of Measure	Conversion Multiplier	Units of Measure	Unit of Measure Class
Glove	1	Each	Quantity
Each	120	Box	Quantity
Box	24	Carton	Quantity
Carton	16	Case	Quantity

On the Create Item page, select the Primary Unit of Measure as Each.
Click the plus icon ( + ) on the Packaging String field.
In the Define Packaging String wizard, in the Select UOMs step, select these UOMs:
- Each
- Box
- Carton
- Case
For this example, assume that these UOMs have been defined for your organization.

In the Define Multipliers step:

The UOM Class is Quantity
The Base UOM Name is Each

Enter these multipliers and click Recalculate:

Multiplier	Content UOM	UOM Name	Base Unit Conversion
120 X	Each	= Box	120
24 X	Box	= Carton	2,880
16 X	Carton	= Case	46,080

You should see the numbers shown in the Base Unit Conversion.

The Packaging String field should display a packaging string similar to this:
```
Ea 120/BX 24/CTN 16/CS
```
Click Next, then click Save and Close.
Your new packaging string appears in the Packaging String field on the Create Item page.

Use Packaging Strings

You can use packaging strings:

In item definitions:

On the Create Item or Edit Item page, you can select an existing packaging string for the for the item, or create a new packaging string. See the preceding sections of this topic for details.
In import maps and FBDI:

You can import an existing packaging string for items, in the Packaging String attribute in an import map, or in the Packaging String column of the ItemImportTemplate.xlsm FBDI template file. You can't create a new packaging string through item import.
In publications:

Packaging strings are available in the item XML generated by the Publication process.
In product rules:

You can refer to packaging strings in assignment and validation rules.
In REST services:

You can use the packagingStrings REST resource in the SCM Common group to create or get packaging strings. For details, see the REST API for Oracle Fusion Cloud SCM guide.

Autocreate Item-specific Intraclass UOM Conversions Using Packaging Strings

Earlier to define item-specific intraclass UOM conversions you had to follow a two-step process:

Make sure the item is created in the Product Information Management work area.
Populate the computed UOM conversion using the Manage UOM Intraclass Conversions page in the Setup and Maintenance work area.

Now, you can define the item-specific intraclass UOM conversions in a single step by assigning a packaging string to the item when the item is created or updated. When saving the item record, based on the item’s packaging string definition, Oracle Product Hub automatically stores the item-specific UOM conversion for every UOM present in the packaging string. For example, if you assign the packaging string Ea 12/CRD 5/PK 4/CTN to the item RXJY 17 mg Tablet, then Product Hub adds the following item specific UOM conversions to the database.

Item	From UOM	To Base UOM (Each)
RXJY 17 mg Tablet	Card	12
RXJY 17 mg Tablet	Pack	60
RXJY 17 mg Tablet	Carton	240

The autocreated item-specific conversion will be available in the Manage UOM Intraclass Conversions page in read-only mode. To change the conversion factors, you must change the packaging string assignment to the item as needed.

The following table shows the conversions for the packaging string on the Manage UOM Intraclass Conversions page.

Item	Item Description	From UOM	Class Name	Conversion	Base UOM Name
RXJY 17mg Tablet	RXJY 17mg Tablet	Card	Quantity	12	Each
RXJY 17mg Tablet	RXJY 17mg Tablet	Pack	Quantity	60	Each
RXJY 17mg Tablet	RXJY 17mg Tablet	Carton	Quantity	240	Each

You can view the assigned packaging string to the item on the Edit Item page > Overview tab > Packaging String attribute.

To avail this feature, you must opt-in to the Automate UOM Conversion Set Up with Packaging Strings that Specify Eligible Units for the Item feature. After availing this feature, if you update a packaging string assignment for an item, the update must meet the data validation constraints. If you aren’t availing this feature, Product Hub won’t autocreate the item specific UOM conversion even if you assign a packaging string to the item.

If you've opted into the Create Packaging Strings for Items and the Calculate Runtime Transaction UOM Conversions with Generated Item Data features, (a parent feature of the Autocreate UOM Conversions When Adding a Packaging String to an Item feature), the LOVs for the Secondary UOM field and the Unit Of Issue field will restrict the UOMs only to the collection of UOM elements in the Packaging String assigned to the item.