SKUs and cartons

Forensik works out freight from the cartons each product ships in. A SKU is one product, with one or more cartons. A flat pack desk in three boxes is one SKU with three cartons.

Add a SKU

1. Go to SKUs in the sidebar (/skus) and choose Add SKU.
2. Enter the SKU Code and Product Name, and choose a Category if you use them.
3. Under Cartons, fill in each carton's Length (mm), Width (mm), Height (mm) and Weight (g), as whole numbers.
4. Choose Add carton for each extra carton, up to 50.
5. Choose Add SKU.

As you type, Forensik shows each carton's cubic weight and the totals: the number of cartons, the actual weight and the cubic weight. An incomplete carton is not counted, and the SKU cannot be saved until you complete or remove it. An active SKU needs at least one carton.

How cubic weight is worked out

Cubic weight = length x width x height in metres x 250 kg per cubic metre. A 600 x 400 x 300 mm carton has a cubic weight of 18 kg.

The SKU page uses 250 kg/m3 as a guide. When a consignment is rated, each carton uses the cubic factor of the carrier's rate card, and the rated weight is the greater of the actual and cubic weight, rounded up as the rate card says.

The SKU code links your store

Orders from your store or your order files name products by SKU code. Forensik finds the SKU with exactly that code, so use the same code as your store, letter for letter.

Import SKUs

Choose Template to download the CSV layout, then Import CSV or Excel. The file has one row per carton, with these columns:

• sku_code, name, category (optional)
• carton_no: 1, 2, 3 and so on for each carton of the SKU
• length_mm, width_mm, height_mm, weight_g

A SKU with three cartons takes three rows with the same code and name. A category named in the file is created if it does not exist yet. Importing a SKU that already exists replaces its cartons.

Files can be up to 5 MB and 10,000 rows. The import is all or nothing: if any row has an error, nothing is imported and each bad row is listed. See Import row errors.

A SKU with no cartons is never guessed

If an order names a SKU code Forensik does not know, or a SKU with no cartons, Forensik does not invent a size or weight. The line cannot be priced and its consignment shows why. Set up the SKU before its orders arrive.

An order keeps the cartons its SKUs had when the order was taken. Changing a SKU's cartons later applies to new orders, not ones already in Forensik. See Cannot price orders.

To stop using a SKU, open it and choose Deactivate. Its history is kept.