Handling Units
Definition
A handling unit (HU) is a physical unit consisting of packaging materials, such as load carriers, and the materials they contain.In outbound deliveries, handling units enable the user to map the material, for example, cable, and the packaging material, for example, reel, as a logical unit alongside other packaging materials. The following applies to handling units:
HUs consist of materials, packaging materials, and auxiliary packaging materials, or of other handling units.
HUs can be nested to allow several handling units to be bundled into new handling units.
HUs have a single, scannable identification number that complies with standards such as EAN 128 or SSCC.
Use
In Handling Unit Management (HUM), a reel, for example, can be mapped as a packaging material . You assign the material type to all packaging materials that you want to use to create a handling unit in the material master (view: Sales and Distribution: SOrg2).
In the cable industry, reels are normally used as the load carrier when you generate handling units in outbound deliveries.The data basis for packing is not the packing instruction in HUM but the packaging material characteristic of the cable batch.
Note
Packaging materials that are used to create handling units must have a material master and be suitable for inventory management. Then stock is reduced accordingly when a goods issue is posted for the delivery.
Since handling units are nestable, you can, for example, map the wrapped reels as HU at the lowest level. You can also pack wound reels for delivery in other handling units by using additional packaging materials (for example, pallets and containers), and auxiliary packaging materials (for example, lagging). In the delivery, the system makes packing proposals (for example, how handling units are to be packed in other handling units) using the packing instructions you created.