Hi I think we can do it by defining one Part Number (Tube) and the Unit of Measure is = m (meters)

And par alley define Catch UoM = Pcs for the Part.

So you can get an idea how many tubes available and its lengths as well.

When tubes are received and issued we can additionally enter the Catch UoM based on the number of Tubes invilved.

Thanks for the answer!

But by doing it this way, we could have the situation where we have 10 tubes of 4 meters, and none of 5 meters. A need to purchase a tube of 5 meter would not be detected, as the system assumes we still have 40 meter in stock?

Hi,

Normally, you manage such a warehouse on sight. This means that, as suggested above, you keep the purchased tubes in stock as UoM = m (metres) and only see the total length available in the system without knowing how long the individual tubes are. This must then always be checked visually using the current shop order to see whether the tubes are sufficient or whether new 5-metre-long tubes need to be re-ordered.

If this is not possible, you have to define the purchased tubes as series parts and then you can see for each individual tube how long it still is. For the shop order, you then have to receive each individual tube with the corresponding length requirement. The system handling is of course more complex, but you have the exact length for each tube mapped in the system.

You now have the choice between a simple conventional visual management according to variant 1 or a more complex variant 2 where you know and can manage the exact length for each individual tube in the stock.

This is similar to this post where I explained using a W/D/R number to allocate variations of a single part number when it isn’t desirable or possible to make individual part numbers for dropped cuts.

I too think Assigning a unique WDR number for a specific length would help to have the tubes with similar lengths are aggregated and displayed in one record per specific length. 

Eg, WDR number = length

So a tube with 5m length will get WDR number = 5 , so the total length we see under WDR number 5 in the Inventory Part in Stock for a particular Tube would be the ones with 5m length, and the Catch Qty should show the actual number of tubes with 5m length. I think you can even go for a Custom Column to divide the total length from the numeric value of the WDR number to get the number of Tubes for the specific length.

If part of it to be consumed , lets say 2 meters, then we can issue the 5m to the shop order from WDR 5 (we can over issue to a shop order) and receive the remaining 3 meters as a by product to WDR =3.

So now the Qty in the Stock under WDR =3 is increased by 3 meters and the Catch Qty (number of Tubes) is increased by 1.