Overview
Paper suppliers typically price by weight (kg or Tonnes), but print shops track and consume paper by Sheets. Units of Measure in Gelato Connect Procurement bridges this gap by letting you define a Purchase Unit on the supplier product and a separate Stock Unit on your inventory item. GCP automatically converts between the two using the paper’s physical attributes (GSM and sheet dimensions).
This means you can enter your paper inventory in Sheets, see stock levels in Sheets, and still place orders in the unit your supplier expects.
What you’ll need
Your supplier’s pricing unit and price (e.g. €17.70 per kg)
Paper attributes: GSM, sheet width, sheet height (for automatic conversion)
our preferred stock unit (typically Sheets for sheet paper)
Part 1: Setting up the Supplier Product
The supplier product defines what you’re buying, at what price, and in which unit. You can add products one at a time or in bulk using a template.
Adding a supplier product (one by one)
Go to Catalog → Show All Suppliers, then select your paper supplier.
Click Add SKU → Create New SKU.
Select the category as “Paper”. Make sure you select “Paper” (not “Paper Test” or any other variant).
Fill in the SKU name and product name.
Select the Product Type: “Sheet” or “Roll”. The attributes shown will change depending on your selection.
For Sheet products:
Select the Purchase Unit — e.g. Tonnes, kg, Pounds, 1,000 Sheets.
Enter the Unit Price (price per purchase unit, e.g. price per Tonne).
Fill in the paper attributes: Format (or Custom width × height), GSM, Thickness, Finish.
Set the Stock Unit — for sheet paper, this is typically “Sheets”. This determines how your inventory will be counted.
Click Save.
For Roll products:
Select the Purchase Unit — e.g. Rolls, kg, Pounds, Linear Metres, Square Metres.
Enter the Unit Price.
Fill in roll-specific attributes (width, GSM, core diameter, etc.).
Set the Stock Unit — for rolls, this is typically Rolls, Linear Metres, or kg depending on how you track usage.
Click Save.
Adding supplier products in bulk
If you have many paper SKUs to add, you can use the bulk import template:
On the supplier page, click Actions → Import.
Select the Paper product template and click Download.
Open the downloaded file. It contains two tabs — one for Sheet products and one for Roll products — each with a sample row showing how to fill it in.
Add your products (one row per SKU), filling in the purchase unit, price, GSM, dimensions, stock unit, and other attributes.
Upload the completed file and click Save.
Updating an existing supplier product
Go to Catalog → Show All Suppliers, then select your supplier.
Find and open the SKU you want to update.
Edit the Purchase Unit, price, or attributes as needed.
Update MOQ and Batch Size if they need to change (these are expressed in the Purchase Unit).
Click Save.
Part 2: Adding to Inventory and setting the Stock Unit
Once your supplier products are set up, you can add them to inventory. The stock unit you defined on the supplier product will carry through.
Adding supplier products to inventory
On the supplier page, select the SKUs you want to stock (tick the checkboxes).
Click Add to Inventory.
The inventory items are created automatically with the Stock Unit you defined (e.g. Sheets).
Go to Inventory to find the newly added items. You can search by product name or UID.
To set your current stock level, click Change Stock Quantity on the item and enter the quantity in the stock unit (e.g. 8,000 Sheets).
Updating the stock unit on an existing inventory item
Go to Inventory and open the item.
Click Edit on the item details.
Change the Stock Unit dropdown to the desired unit.
Update the stock quantity to reflect the correct amount in the new unit.
Set your Min and Max stock thresholds (these use the stock unit).
Click Save.
Part 3: How GCP converts between Purchase and Stock units
When the Purchase Unit (e.g. Tonnes) differs from the Stock Unit (e.g. Sheets), GCP needs a conversion factor. There are two ways to set this up.
Automatic conversion (recommended)
If the supplier product has GSM and sheet dimensions filled in, GCP calculates the conversion automatically using the standard industry formula:
Weight per sheet (g) = Width (m) × Height (m) × GSM Sheets per kg = 1,000 ÷ Weight per sheet (g) Sheets per Tonne = 1,000,000 ÷ Weight per sheet (g) |
Example: 100 GSM paper, sheet size 720 × 1020 mm
Step | Calculation | Result |
Sheet area | 0.72 m × 1.02 m | 0.7344 m² |
Weight per sheet | 0.7344 × 100 | 73.44 g |
Sheets per kg | 1,000 ÷ 73.44 | 13.62 sheets |
Sheets per Tonne | 1,000,000 ÷ 73.44 | 13,616 sheets |
0.5 Tonnes | 13,616 × 0.5 | 6,808 sheets |
Manual conversion
If the product attributes are incomplete, or you want to override the auto-calculated value, you can enter a conversion factor manually:
On the supplier product, click the Manual tab in the conversion section.
Select the target unit (e.g. kg → Sheets).
Enter the conversion factor (e.g. “1 kg = 13.62 Sheets”).
Click Save.
Part 4: Placing orders and receiving stock
Placing an order
When you order a paper product through the Catalog, GCP shows you both perspectives:
The order quantity and total cost in the Purchase Unit (e.g. 587.52 kg at €17.70/kg).
The price per Sheet, calculated from the conversion factor — so you can verify the cost makes sense for your production.
MOQ and Batch Size are enforced in the Purchase Unit.
GCP also includes an order value check: if the total order value is unusually high (e.g. over €50,000), you’ll see a confirmation prompt to prevent mistakes.
Receiving stock
When the delivery arrives and you mark the order as received:
GCP converts the delivered quantity from the Purchase Unit into the Stock Unit using the conversion factor.
Your inventory is updated in Sheets (or whatever stock unit you defined) — not in Tonnes or kg.
For example: receiving an order of 587.52 kg of 100 GSM 720×1020 mm paper adds 8,000 Sheets to your inventory.
Supported units reference
Sheet paper
Unit | Purchase | Stock | Region |
Sheet | Yes | Yes | All |
1,000 sheets | Yes | — | All |
Ream (500 sheets) | Yes | — | All |
kg | Yes | Yes | EU |
Tonne (1,000 kg) | Yes | — | EU |
lb | Yes | Yes | US |
CWT (100 lbs) | Yes | — | US |
Roll media
Unit | Purchase | Stock | Region |
Roll | Yes | Yes | All |
Linear metre | Yes | Yes | EU |
Linear foot | Yes | Yes | US |
sq metre | Yes | — | EU |
sq foot | Yes | — | US |
kg | Yes | Yes | EU |
Tonne (1,000 kg) | Yes | — | EU |
lb | Yes | Yes | US |
CWT (100 lbs) | Yes | — | US |