Combined Items - Assigned Item Configurations - FAQs

Overview:

When you assign an Inventory Item to a Combined item that does not share a Measure Class with the Combined Item, you will be asked to configure a recipe unit for a measure class that the combined item is configured for. COGS-Well refers to this process as an Assigned Item Configuration.

The reason COGS-Well requires an assigned item configuration is so that theoretical cost and usage can be calculated for the combined item when it is used in recipes as an ingredient, regardless of which assigned inventory item you are currently buying and using in your operations.

Things to Know:

Every new Inventory Item in COGS-Well is automatically assigned a Primary Measure Class and Recipe Unit configuration based on how the item is sold by the vendor.
There are three industry-standard Measure Classes - Weight, Volume, and Count.
An assigned item configuration will ask for a "Conversion Factor" for the recipe units configured for the combined item to the recipe units configured for the assigned item.
Conversion Factors can be confusing so COGS-Well provides a Unit of Measure Conversion table to make them easier.

Assigned Item Configurations:

The Assigned Item Configuration tab in the Combined Item Setup feature will tell you if any assigned item configurations are required. Configurations are only required if one or more of the assigned inventory items do not share the same Measure Class (Weight, Volume, or Count) as the measure class or classes configured for the combined item.

Common Measure Class: In the Flour combined item example shown below, all three inventory items share a configuration for the Weight Measure Class. So no added configurations are required. Since we do not see any red "Required" messages on the display, we can move on.

No Common Measure Class: In the Red Onions combined item example below, the "required" message tells us that a configuration for the weight measure class is required for the Onion Red Large inventory item:

The configuration is required because Onions Red 5# was assigned to the combined item first and it passed on its recipe unit configuration for the Weight measure class to the combined item. We can see the recipe unit for Onion Red 5# is weighted ounce and there are 80 weighted ounces in a Pack.

Onions Red Large was assigned next to this Combined Item and it is only configured for the Count measure class. This is because Onion Red Large is purchased by count (the pack size and cost are for Each). We, therefore, are being asked to configure Onion Red Large for the Weight measure class.

As mentioned earlier, the weight configuration is required so that when a weighted ounce is used as a recipe unit for the combined item, COGS-Well can determine theoretical cost and usage if the Onion Red Large is being purchased and used in your operations. This calculation is critical so a combined item cannot be saved until all required measure class configurations are completed.

Add Measure Class Configurations: To configure Onion Red Large for the Weight Measure Class, click the edit button to the right of the item. This will take us to a "Configure Item" display as shown below:

This display shows the Pack Size, Primary Measure Class, Recipe Unit, and Recipe Unit Factor already configured for Onion Red Large. In this example, the measure class is count and the recipe unit is each. The "Recipe Unit Factor" is 1 each per pack because the pack size and cost is for one onion. The display also tells us that a weight recipe unit configuration is required.

If we use the weight recipe unit drop-down and select Wz as the weight recipe unit, we are immediately asked for a "Recipe Unit Conversion Factor". COGS-Well needs to know how many weighted ounces per each. Or, in simple, English, how many weighted ounces are in one onion? The conversion factor enables theoretical cost and usage to be calculated regardless of recipe unit or measure class.

Unit of Measure (UOM) Conversion Table: To make recipe unit configurations of a recipe unit for an added measure class easier, COGS-Well provides a Unit of Measure (UOM) Conversion Table that includes weight, volume, and count conversions (Recipe Unit Conversion Factors) for many common ingredients.

The UOM Conversions table contains conversions for inventory items often used as ingredients in multiple measure classes. Produce and spices are examples of inventory items that are often bought by weight, but used in recipes by volume or count. Below is a screenshot of the full table:

To create the UOM Conversion Table, COGS-Well used 1 cup as the base recipe unit and then added conversions for weight. For produce items that may be purchased or used by each in a recipe, COGS-Well also added a configuration for the count measure class. All items in the table have volume-to-weight conversions and only some items also include conversions for count.

The information in this table has been gathered from sources on the internet that are often based on averages or approximations and different sources do not always agree. We cannot account for the accuracy of the information.

If you do not find the exact ingredient you are looking for, search the table for a similar ingredient. For example, if you cannot find onion powder, then search and select garlic powder.

Automatic Configurations: For the example below, we clicked the UOM Conversions button on the configure item display to add a UOM Conversion to the Onion Large Red inventory item. Please note that the table has filtered out ingredients that do not have a recipe unit configured for the count measure class because there would be no basis for the conversion:

Select an Ingredient: In the example below, we have searched the UOM Conversions table for Onions. The table contains conversions for Onions (large), Onions (medium), and Onions (small). The table shows that 1 cup of large onions weighs 5.3 Wz and it takes .53 of one large onion, which weighs 10 Wz on average, to create a cup:

We typically buy large Red Onions so we will either highlight the Onion (large) and click the Apply Conversions button, or we can double-click Onions (large). Applying the conversion will automatically configure Recipe Units for Count and Volume because the table has both configurations for the onion (see an example below):

Selecting onions from the UOM Conversion table automatically configured Recipe Units and Recipe Unit Factors for Count and Volume. This is because the table includes weight, volume, and count conversion factors for onions.

In this example, the recipe unit conversion factors tell COGS-Well that there are 10 weighted ounces in one large onion and that one large onion yields 1.887 cups of onion. Now, when this combined item is used as an ingredient in a recipe, recipe units for weight, volume, or count can be used.

A Completed Assigned Item Configuration: Now that the UOM Conversion Table has automatically configured the added recipe units, we can click the done button to take us back to the assigned item configuration grid. The grid tells us that no other configurations are required and we can click the Save button or move on to the next combined item tab.

Let's take a moment to discuss what you can do if a recipe unit configuration for an added measure class is required and you cannot find the ingredient, or a similar ingredient, in the UOM conversion table. In this situation, you must manually add the recipe unit configuration.

Manually Adding an Assigned Item Configuration: Before you manually enter a configuration, please look for a similar ingredient to the one you need to configure in the UOM Conversion Table. For example, if you can’t find onion powder then search for garlic powder. Or, if you can't find margarine then use butter, etc.

To manually add a Measure Class and Recipe Unit configuration, use the drop-down for the added Measure Class to select a Recipe Unit. An Example for adding a Weight Recipe Unit with the drop-down selected is shown below. We will select Wz from the drop-down.

Manually Add a Recipe Unit Conversion Factor: As soon as the recipe unit is selected, we are asked for the "Recipe Unit Conversion Factor". In this example, we are being asked to configure how many weighted ounces per each. This translates to the number of ounces that are in one onion, or, simply, how much does one onion weigh? Please see the example below:

If we know the new recipe unit conversion factor, we can add it to the field. For example, if we know one large onion weighs 10 weighted ounces then we will enter a 10. If we don't know the factor, the first thing we can try is reversing the conversion factor which may present an easier equation:

Reverse the Conversion Factor: The double arrow button to the right of a Recipe Unit Factor will reverse the Recipe Unit Factor request. Below we reversed the factors for Weight and Volume for the Onion Large Red. Now the conversion factor is asking for how much of one onion weighs one weighted ounce:

Sometimes you will find that reversing the conversion factor prompt is helpful. Unfortunately, in the above example, it is not. So what can you do when you don't know a conversion factor?

Google Measure Class Conversions: When you don't know a Measure Class conversion, Google is a good resource. For example, to find the factor for onions for weighted ounces to each, we can google "How much does an onion weigh". Below is an example:

To provide an example if we wanted to convert volume to weight for the onion, we can google, "How much does a cup of onions weigh"

Conversion Factors for most ingredients, or a similar ingredient, can be found via Google. We recommend searching using a cup when you need a volume conversion because most ingredients have published conversion factors for a cup.

Once you discover the conversion factor, enter and select done for the added recipe unit configuration. When the Assigned Item Configurations grid does not show any more required configurations, you are done and can move on:

Summary:

In summary, configurations for a recipe unit for an added measure class are easy when an ingredient is used from the UOM Conversions table.

Conversion factors for manual configurations can be more challenging, but you can usually find them by doing an online search for the conversion factor.

Please don't hesitate to ask us for help with the configuration process. We are happy to help. You can reach us at support@cogs-well.com.