Items can be measured and packaged for shipment in a variety of ways. An individual item (often called an 'each' or 'retail item') may be packaged within a case or master pack. In other instances, inner packaging is used before the items are placed in the case. Clearly communicating how items are packaged and measured, and in what quantities, is essential for accurate coordination with your trading partners.
While the item dimensions that are required for your items may differ by trading partner, providing accurate item dimensions can help ensure a smoother, more efficient supply chain process, from purchasing, to delivery, to storage and display. Inaccurate item dimensions can cause order delays and other complications with trading partners.
To ensure consistency and alignment, listed below are definitions of dimensional attributes commonly found on an Item Import template.
Requirements may vary by retailer, so not all attributes listed here may appear in your template.
Linear Dimensions
If your trading partner requires linear dimensions, you must provide the Length (also known as Depth), Width, Height, and the corresponding unit of measure for each item on the Item Import template.
The UOM (Unit of Measure)attribute is a prepopulated list of accepted values in the Item Import template.
Based on the packaging configurations of your items, along with your trading partner(s)' requirements, you may be asked to provide linear dimension information for the following configurations:
Consumer Item
The Consumer Item refers to the item in its assembled or out-of-package form.
A grill is an example of an item that has different dimensions in-the-box versus as-assembled. Both dimensions are important to your trading partners and the end consumer.
Consumer Package
The Consumer Package, however, refers to the item in its original store packaging, not assembled or out of package.
Inner Pack
An Inner Pack is a smaller packaging configuration that contains multiple units of a consumer level item. Inner packs are typically contained within a master case.
If your items are not packaged in Inner Packs but Inner Pack dimensions are required, the Inner Pack dimensions will be the same as the Consumer Package dimensions.
Another attribute associated with an Inner Pack is Inner Pack QTY. Inner Pack QTY = the number of items inside the inner pack. If no inner packs, this value will be '1'.
The Inner Pack QTY for this item = '4'.
There are 4 'each' level item in this inner pack.
Master Pack/Case
The Master Pack/Case is the the standard shipping unit that contains multiple individual units or inner packs of a product.
In addition to providing the linear dimensions for your Master Pack/Cases, you might also need to identify the number of Inner Packs within the Master Pack. Outer Pack QTY captures this information.
If there are no inner packs, Outer Pack QTY= the number of individual items inside the Master Pack/Case.
The Outer Pack QTY for this item = '70'.
There are 70 Inner Packs in this Master Pack/Case.
Pallet
A Pallet is a shipping unit that contains either cases, inner packs, or eaches.
In addition to providing the linear dimensions of a Pallet, you may also be asked to identify the number of:
Pallet Blocks - the number of cases which can be assembled in a single layer on a single pallet.
Pallet Tiers - The number of layers high that will be stacked on the pallet.
Pallet Blocks and Pallet Tiers are also referred to as Ti-Hi.
More Information
Click here to learn more about accurately assigning linear dimensions to your items according to GS1 Standards.
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