Four levels of packUnit · inner · outer · pallet
A quantity without a level is not a quantity. Everything this company buys, holds and sells exists at one of four levels at a time, and the same goods change level three times between a pallet arriving and a unit leaving a till.
This page sets out the four levels, the formats a unit takes within this group of goods, and the closure each format depends on. It is the vocabulary the other pages assume.
Four levels, and what each one has to survive
| Level | Typically | Has to survive | Labelled with | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1 | Unit | Bottle, tube, jar, can, stick or carton | Handling by a shopper, and a facing being refilled around it | Every required particular in full |
| L2 | Inner | Printed carton or shrink-wrapped tray | Being carried on a trolley and opened in the aisle | Line reference and unit count |
| L3 | Outer | Double-wall corrugated case | Stacking, strapping and the weight of the layers above it | Line reference, case count, batch, orientation arrows |
| L4 | Pallet | Four-way timber, wrapped and cornered | A forklift, a tail-lift and a journey on one booking | Pallet label listing every line on it |
The level that matters most is L3, because it is the only one both halves of this company handle in the same shape. A specialised store receives outers and breaks them to inners; a wholesale consignment is counted, built and invoiced in outers and never opened at all. That is why the specification sheet carries units per outer as a column of its own rather than leaving it to be worked out.
L1 is the only level that must carry the full set of label particulars. An inner may be printed with no more than a reference and a count, and an outer carries transit information which is of no use to a shopper and every use to a goods-in bay.
Unit formats, and the closure each one depends on
| Ref | Format | Closure | Watched for |
|---|---|---|---|
| U1 | Bottle, screw cap | Threaded cap with a wad or liner | A cap backed off a turn in transit, which lets the contents weep into the inner |
| U2 | Pump bottle | Lock-down pump head | A head left unlocked, which primes under the weight of the case above |
| U3 | Tube | Crimped or welded end seam | A seam split by a case stacked past its crush height |
| U4 | Jar | Wide lid, often with a disc | A disc displaced in handling, which is a unit that cannot go to a facing |
| U5 | Aerosol can | Crimped valve and overcap | An overcap lost in the outer, which leaves the valve exposed on the shelf |
| U6 | Stick | Barrel and winder | Warmth, which is why the storage column on a stick line names a lower ceiling |
| U7 | Carton, dry contents | Tuck or glued flap | Damp from a floor or a wet slab, which collapses the flute |
Every entry in the right-hand column is a reason a unit is found unfit at goods-in rather than a reason to avoid a format. The point of recording it against the format is that the check is then the same every time: a pump line is checked for unlocked heads, an aerosol line for missing overcaps, and neither check is invented on the spot by whoever opened the case.
Mixed cases, and why they are counted differently
A mixed case holds units that do not divide evenly into whole inners, or holds more than one line. Either way the case count on the outer no longer describes a repeating pattern inside it, so the only honest way to receive one is unit by unit. The converter on the specification sheet says so in as many words whenever the figures entered do not divide.
| Ref | Case | Counted |
|---|---|---|
| X1 | Whole inners, one line | Inner by inner against the case count, then sealed and racked |
| X2 | Whole inners, several lines | Inner by inner, with each line's reference written against its count |
| X3 | Part inners | Unit by unit, and the shortfall written on the goods-in record at the time |
| X4 | Opened before arrival | Unit by unit, with the state of the seal recorded before the case is emptied |
X4 is written down before the case is emptied, not after, because once the units are out of it nobody can say whether the seal was cut at the far end or in transit. That note is the only thing that distinguishes a short delivery from a loss in carriage, and it takes about as long to write as it does to read.