Suppose a case of cheese is listed at 40 pounds. The first case on the scale weighs 39, the next 40.5, the next 41.5. Meat, poultry, seafood, cheese and some produce all work this way, and how you carry those weights from the scale to the invoice decides whether you bill what you shipped.
What catch weight means
A catch-weight item is priced by weight but ordered, picked and shipped by the unit. Three numbers are involved:
- Nominal weight: the expected weight of a case, such as 40 pounds. It is used for estimates and planning.
- Actual net weight: what a specific case weighs, without its packaging.
- Price per pound: what the customer pays per unit of weight.
The invoice should use the second number. The first is only there until the second is known.
Bill the net weight
A scale reads gross weight: product plus box, liner, ice glaze or tray. The customer is buying the product. Net weight is gross weight minus the tare, the weight of the packaging. Set a tare for each item and packaging type, check it from time to time by weighing empty packaging, and make sure the weight on the label and the invoice is net.
The invoice line
The invoice line for a catch-weight item is:
Line total = total actual net weight × price per pound, rounded to the cent once
For example, a customer orders three cases at $5.00 a pound, nominal 40 pounds each:
| Weight | At $5.00 a pound | |
|---|---|---|
| Case 1 | 39.0 lb | |
| Case 2 | 40.5 lb | |
| Case 3 | 41.5 lb | |
| Actual total | 121.0 lb | $605.00 |
| Nominal total | 120.0 lb | $600.00 |
Billing nominal would have under-billed this line by $5.00. With different cases it would have over-billed instead, which is how weight disputes start. The catch-weight calculator runs the same comparison on your own weights.
Round once
Add up the weights first, then multiply and round. Rounding each case and adding the results can drift by a cent or more from the line total. For example, two cases of 10.25 and 10.35 pounds at $3.99 a pound: rounded case by case, $40.90 plus $41.30 is $82.20. Calculated on the total, 20.60 pounds at $3.99 is $82.194, which rounds to $82.19. Pick one rule, use it everywhere, and make the printed invoice show the math the customer can check: cases, total weight, price per pound and line total.
Estimated order, actual invoice
When the order is placed, nobody knows the real weight yet. The order shows an estimate based on nominal weight, and the invoice replaces it with the actual weight after picking. Three things follow:
- Tell the customer the order total is an estimate. Show it as estimated on the order confirmation so the invoice is not a surprise.
- Do not invoice until every case is weighed. An invoice built on nominal weight for a missing case is wrong, and correcting it later costs more than waiting.
- Credit checks run on the estimate. A credit limit check at order time uses the estimated total, so allow for some difference when an account is close to its limit.
Per pound or per case
Not every variable-weight item has to be sold by the pound. Some are sold at a fixed price per case, whatever each case weighs. The trade-off:
- By the pound, billed on actual weight. The customer pays for what they received. It takes a weight on every case, but if you also buy by the pound, your margin per pound stays the same whatever the case weighs.
- A fixed price per case. Simpler to quote and invoice. The weight variation becomes your cost, or your gain.
The fixed case price is riskiest when you buy by the pound. For example, you buy at $4.00 a pound and sell a nominal 40-pound case for a fixed $200.00. A 40-pound case costs $160.00 and earns $40.00. A 41.5-pound case costs $166.00 and earns $34.00. If your supplier's cases run heavy, every case earns less than you planned.
Where margin leaks
- Billing nominal weight instead of actual.
- Billing gross weight, or using a tare that no longer matches the packaging.
- A keying error, such as 4.05 entered as 40.5. Set a tolerance around the nominal weight and stop any case outside it for a second look.
- Buying by the pound but costing inventory by the case, so margin reports do not match the invoices.
- Paying the supplier's billed weight without checking it against what you weighed at receiving.
Capture the weight at each step
- Receiving. Weigh what arrives and compare it with the supplier's billed weight. On the buying side, a three-way match of purchase order, receipt and supplier bill should use weights, not just case counts.
- Picking. Record the weight of each case as it is picked, tied to its lot.
- Before the truck leaves. Check that every catch-weight line has a weight for every case.
- Labels. Print the net weight on the case label, so the customer can check it against the invoice.
The scale you invoice from is a commercial weighing device, which your state's weights and measures program regulates. Check with that program about the certification and inspection your scales need.
Settling a weight dispute
When a customer says a case was light, you should be able to answer: which case, which lot, what it weighed at pick and what the label said. If the customer is right, the credit is the difference in weight times the price per pound. For example, a case billed at 40.0 pounds that weighed 38.0 at the customer's door is a 2-pound difference, or $10.00 at $5.00 a pound. Without a recorded weight per case, every dispute comes down to the customer's word against nobody's.
For the warehouse side of handling variable-weight stock, see Catch-weight items: three ways to handle them.
How APFoodz handles it
In APFoodz, catch-weight items are priced and invoiced on the weight that shipped. Picking and receiving run in the warehouse app on iOS, Android or a Zebra handheld.