is there a way of changing the unit type of an exisitng item?

AI generated answer (using internal Slack threads):

Based on the conversations, it appears that changing the base unit of an existing item in NetSuite is not possible. You can modify the purchase, stock, sale, and consumption units, but these will all be derivatives of the base unit. You cannot change from one type of unit to another (e.g., from volume to weight or weight to eaches), but you can add or change units within the same "family" or type. There was a mention of someone successfully changing the unit type via CSV import, but this seems to be an exception rather than a rule, and it's not clear if this method would work consistently. As for changing item types (e.g., from Inventory Items to a Kit/Package), it seems that this is also not possible without losing historical data. One suggested workaround is to change the original item SKU to include "-OLD-", inactivate it, and then recreate the item. The old version will retain sales data, but it's unclear if this data will be accessible for reporting if the item is inactivated. ****** Disclaimer: This response was generated by an artificial intelligence assistant based on previous conversations from multiple Slack channels, and may contain inaccuracies or mistakes. ******