Add two units to the production table

[qjhart]

If we go to method where a production has an operation then my original thought is that the operation has a unit on which you make the estimate, and this can change. So, for example, you might make an estimate for the '''Bale''' operation on an acre or tons basis (or maybe both). Then when you choose a material, you choose the unit for that, for example, your Labor charge might be on an hr or on a day. So, the production table would look like

operation	material	unit	per	amount
Bale	Labor	hr	ton	25

Where the per is the operational unit. Does this sound correct?

[jrmerz]

So the cost is both per ton and per hr?

[ncparker]

Quinn's suggestion makes sense to me. It allows for an operation that has both hourly and per unit produced costs to be incorporated in the budget. For Quinn's example it looks like, the operation of baling takes 25 labor-hrs per ton. We would then need to multiply by the labor rate to get the cost per ton.

The functional form can get tricky though with something like baling. To a certain threshold yield, the baling costs are best described as per acre. Once you meet or exceed the equipment's capacity at top speed, then it becomes better described as per ton baled. This is a complex functional form we probably don't want hiding in the code though. The advantage of including both is that it would allow the user to define their costs in the units that make the most sense to them.

[jrmerz]

@ncparker thanks, your explanation helps a lot. It sounds like we should include both, though this could cause issues with the user interface.