Hi, is there a best practice for being able to add items to an Engineering BOM with a unit other than "pieces"? 

For example, I have a cable for which I would like to design different lengths into my assembly. I want these different lengths to then  be communicated to ERP such that the correct length can be ordered from a stock of cable which has a specific EIN. 

So far we have explored using Raw Materials as well as deformable items from Solidworks, however, we aren't sure if this is really the best practice for what seems to be a pretty common use case.