Concept of a product
A product in Supply Chain Management consists of a core product definition. This product is defined independent of the organization where it is used. When the product is authorized for use in a legal entity, the extra organizationally dependent details, such as costing, coverage plans, taxation information, and preferred vendors for supplying the product, and much more, are set up in the legal entities.
Product definitions are created independently of a legal entity. Therefore, core values such as product number, type, and name are shared. A legal entity can override some core values, such as the search name, whereas other values are kept as key definition attributes and therefore can't be changed other than on the actual product definition.
The authorization process is supported by a release function. This function enables users to select products that include variations and make them available in one or more legal entities.
From a decentralized process, users can create and maintain products directly from the Released products list page in the Product information management module, given that the user has the security role to follow these steps. These duties are included in the Product designer and Product design manager roles. On product creation in a legal entity, a core product definition is automatically created in the shared products repository.
You can choose among three configuration technologies:
- Predefined variants - Are defined by predefined product dimensions. The variant definition includes the definition of a valid combination of dimensions, such as color, style, and size. Each combination produces a distinct product variant.
- Dimension-based configuration - Is typically used in manufacturing scenarios and lets you use the Configuration dimension in the definition of the bill of materials (BOMs). After a configuration is selected, the system uses the subset of BOM lines that are valid for that configuration for planning and production. This concept is also known as global BOM because one shared BOM is used for all configurations of a product.
- Constraint-based configuration - Uses a product configuration model to describe all possible attributes and components that are required to describe all possible variants of a product in a single model. You can describe the constraints of combinations of attributes through regular expressions or table-based constraints. Configuration models and configurators become more important in product information management and are used across all industries.
When you plan the implementation of Supply Chain Management, it's important that you select the correct configuration technology for a business process. A product can't be converted from one model to another after implementation.
The two types of products are:
- Item - These products are purchased and you can use them for consumption, distribution, and resell, and you can include them in the production of manufactured (BOM) items.
- Service - These products are used to quantify hourly services, for example.
The two subtypes of products are:
Product - A product is a uniquely identifiable product. It serves as a core product that does not vary; therefore, no product dimensions can be associated with the definition.
Product master - A product master holds the definition and rules that specify how distinct products are described and behave in business processes. Based on these definitions, you can generate distinct products. These distinct products are known as product variants.
In Supply Chain Management, a product master is associated with a product dimension group and a configuration technology to specify the business rules. The product dimensions (color, size, style, and configuration) are a specific set of attributes that can be used throughout Supply Chain Management to define and track specific behaviors of the related products. These dimensions also help users search for and identify the products.
Product masters serve as templates or models for variants. You can predefine or create variants of a product master in sales scenarios by using a product configurator. A product master is associated with one or more product dimensions.
Product variants
A product variant is based on the choice of the configuration technology. You can predefine the variant by using the product dimensions of its master, or you can configure it by using a product configuration tool.