Generic ItemBasic business object

IBM defines an item is anything that can be ordered, sold, replaced, returned, or repaired. This broad definition allows the ItemBasic business object to be used by Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications, Customer Interaction Management (CIM) applications, and Supply Chain (SC) applications. ERP and SC applications conceptualize "items" as anything an organization procures (raw materials), manufactures, and sells (finished product). CIM applications conceptualize "items" as a "Fixed Product".

The definition of an item evolves during its lifecycle, from its creation as a new product or as a component of a new or improved item, to its maturation, and ultimately to its obsolescence. Therefore, more than a single organization within a company supports the maintenance of the item master record.

Figure 1 illustrates how item information may be defined over its life cycle by multiple organizations and used in multiple operations. IBM separates these operations into multiple business objects. However, ItemBasic contains data attributes that are common across all the logical organizations that use item data and is considered a prerequisite for all other IBM generic item business objects.

Note: To bind an adapter to a collaboration template that processes generic ItemBasic, ItemOrder, and ItemPlanning, all of these business objects as well as generic Item must be installed in the repository and the adapter must be configured to support them. Even if your installation does not use generic Item directly, it must remain in the repository and be supported by every relevant adapter.

Business object structure

ItemBasic is a hierarchical business object that contains four child business objects. Figure 1 illustrates the generic ItemBasic business object hierarchy.

Figure 1. The Generic ItemBasic business object hierarchy

ItemBasic

ItemBasic contains such key information about an item as its:

Note: Because IBM collaboration templates may process the ItemBasic, ItemOrder, and ItemPlanning business objects while synchronizing the triggering item and its prerequisite items, it is important that the key attributes be consistent in these business objects. ItemId, SalesArea, and Plant are the default key attributes in ItemBasic, ItemOrder, and ItemPlanning. If you change any of these not to be a key or if you specify additional attributes to be a key, you must make identical changes in all three business objects.

ItemBasic contains physical information about the item, such as its size, weight, volume, and dimension. It contains pricing and costing data. It has attributes that identify the item's type, valuation class, and grouping. It contains the item's source code and grouping code. I

temBasic contains the primary UOM (the item's main unit of measure, which can be converted into other units of measure). It has attributes that contain its effective date, status, bar code, UPC or EAN code, hazard code, and manufacturer's identifiers.

ItemBasic contains a flag that indicates whether the part is marked for a deletion; this attribute contains application-specific information about deleting or archiving the item from the operational database. Other flags provide such information about the item as whether it can be inventoried, recycled, disposed, or serialized.

ItemBasic contains the following child business objects:



Business object attributes
Child business object Description Cardinality
OtherUOM

OtherUOM contains the primary unit of measure (UOM) and an alternative UOM. The alternative UOM is converted to the primary UOM through a conversion factor quotient, based on values stored for the conversion factor numerator and denominator. The conversion is performed by dividing the numerator by the denominator and multiplying the result by the quantity in the primary UOM divided by the quantity in the alternative UOM. For example, one box divided by 4 each is multiplied by 100 each divided by 25 boxes.

OtherUOM contains such physical information as the item's size, weight, volume, and dimension. The business object contains the alternative UOM's unit of measure for length, width, and height; for weight; for volume; and for dimensions.

OtherUOM contains the item's EAN or UPC code for the alternative UOM, and the unit type.

Note: Because ItemBasic and ItemOrder both contain OtherUOM, IBM stores this child business object in its own repository text file. For ItemBasic and ItemOrder to process correctly, the following repository files must exist:

  • %CROSSWORLDS%\repository\BO_ItemBasic.txt
  • %CROSSWORLDS%\repository\BO_ItemOrder.txt
  • %CROSSWORLDS%\repository\BO_OtherUOM.txt
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ReportingGroups ReportingGroups contains data about the product groups with which the item is associated. Some organizations use product groups to facilitate mass processing of item data. For example, if an item is a member of a CPU product group, all processes affecting the group (such as selecting, pricing, or reporting) affects the item. n
Descriptions

Descriptions contains the description's unique identifier, which can be a concatenation of the item's name and another value that is relevant to its description in the business application. For example, SAP requires the Language and PeopleSoft requires the Effective Date along with the ItemId.

Descriptions also contains the effective date from which descriptions are applicable and the last date by which the descriptions are applicable, the language in which the description is provided, and short, medium-length, and long description text.

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Characteristics

Characteristics uses ClassType as its key. The value of this attribute is a category by which the Item can be described (such as Hardware) and can be a concatenation of the item's name and a unique Class Type that is relevant to an Item's description in the business application.

Characteristics also contains data to describe the item by class (such as Computers), characteristic (such as Portability), and characteristic values (such as Laptop).

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Supported verbs

The generic ItemBasic business object supports the following verbs:

Examining the object

To examine the attributes of the generic ItemBasic business object, use the System Manager or the Process Designer Express.

Related References

Copyright IBM Corp. 1997, 2004