Maximo Open Forum

In Maximo, I can create PO with PO line item being charged to a work order without Order unit specified. Then I can approve the such PO as well.
Any reason why Order unit is not forced by Maximo ?

For item being purchased for inventory and charged to inventory, the order unit is mandatory as soon as we enter storeroom in "Charge To" section. However, for items not being purchased for storerooms, that is the not case.

Trying to understand if this is intentional and any valid for the same.
#Procurement

This is intentional. If you look at the help for the order unit field (ALT+F1 on Windows) we state the following: "Standard unit by which the item is ordered, such as roll or case. After you enter a value, Maximo enters the corresponding conversion value in the Conversion field. If you are ordering a service, you can enter hours in this field. If you are ordering materials not in inventory, you can enter a new or existing unit in this field, or leave this field blank."

For storeroom orders, we need this information because you may have a difference between the order and issue unit. We need to know the order unit to determine the conversion rate between the order unit and issue unit for storing it in inventory properly.

When you're performing a direct issue to a WO (or Asset, Location, etc.), this isn't a requirement because the measurement from a Maximo perspective isn't relevant. Whether you issued 5 individual items or 5 boxes of something, that doesn't impact the cost which is all Maximo is focused on in a direct issue scenario. 

That being said, if you wanted to require this in your environment that is fine. You'd have to determine the appropriate approach, such as should we throw an error during PO approval or should we try to capture it earlier in the process like on WPMATERIAL. 

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Steven Shull
IBM
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