Items are used to represent:

• Products and services you sell

• Resources that you maintain

• Components that make up your products and services

Each item that you create in the catalog has several standard operational attributes that determine the behavior of the item with respect to various functions such as Purchasing, and Inventory Management. In addition to these operational attributes, the item has several user-defined attributes defined by its item catalog category. These user-defined attributes can capture item specifications and other information relevant to the product definition.

You can choose from multiple methods to create a new item:

• Create Item page

• Item Open Interface table (see: Managing Item Imports)

• Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet (see: Importing Items Using a Spreadsheet)

• Import Workbench (see: Overview of Inbound Product Data Synchronization and Data Quality Management).

• Product Workbench (see: Creating Items)

If the item catalog category specified when creating the item requires an item request approval, proceed to Creating New Item Requests after you create the item.

   To create a new item:

1. From the menu, select either Create Engineering Items or Create Production Items.

   Note: The only difference between these two menu choices is whether or not the Engineering Item box is pre-selected.

2. On the Create Item page, enter values in the following fields:

   • Create - select New Items.

     Suggestion: Alternatively, you can select Copies of an Existing Item in the Create field. See: To create copies of an existing item. If you have multiple similar items to create, consider creating the first item by selecting New Items in the Create field. After this item is thoroughly defined, created, and approved (if necessary), create the remaining items by creating multiple copies of the first item.

   • Item Catalog Category - find and select an item catalog category in which to create the new item.

     Note: You can only create items within a particular item catalog category if you have the Catalog Category User role for that item catalog category.

     Warning: If ICC versions are enabled, use any of the item creation options described above to create an item rather than the Forms interface to avoid data corruption. Forms behavior has not been enhanced to support ICC versions.

   • Number of Items - enter the number of items you want to create.

   • Style Item - select Style Item if you want to create a style item with related SKUs. For more information about style items, see: Overview of Style and SKU Items.

     Additional Information: You can only create a style item if the selected item catalog category includes at least one attribute group with variant attributes. You can only create SKUs from a style item within the style item's Overview page. See: To create SKU items from a style item:

   • Engineering Item - if a new item request is not required for the item catalog category, you have the option to check the Engineering Item checkbox. If a new item request is required, the Engineering Item check box is automatically selected and displayed as read-only. See: Creating New Item Requests

   • Select Templates - optionally, select templates to set the operational and user-defined attributes for the item. The selected templates are applied to all of the items created in the order specified. See: Defining Item Templates

3. On the Create Item: Enter Number/Description page, enter the required information. Optionally, you can update the primary attribute values (for multiple items, click the Show link to view the primary attributes).

   The item catalog category definition determines the new item's generation method. The item number already appears when the item catalog category specifies that it is Sequence-generated. If the category specifies that the item number or item description is User Entered, then enter an item number or item description. A Function-generated item number or item description is generated after the item and description attributes are entered.

4. Click Finish.

   If you created one item, the system creates the item and returns you to the item Overview page (the item workbench) where you can further define the item or change attribute values. If you created more than one item, the system notifies you that the items have been submitted for creation and provides the Concurrent Request ID.

   If the item's catalog category requires approval, a warning message appears in the item workbench stating that this item does not have an associated new item request. The item's status remains as Pending with an approval status of Not Submitted for Approval until a new item request is created and approved. See: Creating New Item Requests.

Optionally, you can now update item characteristics using the item workbench subtabs:

• Specifications

  View attributes associated with the item catalog category. You can also update or change attribute values, but, depending on your role privileges and the item's lifecycle phase, a change order may be required (see: Managing Item Specifications). You cannot add new attributes. Attribute associations with item catalog categories are performed at the administration level. For more information, see Defining Item Catalog Categories.

• Revisions

  See: Creating Item Revisions

• Attachments

  See: Managing Item Attachments

• Organizations

  See: Enabling Organization Assignments

• People

  See: Adding People

• Associations

  See: Assigning Suppliers to Items and Managing AMLs.

   To create copies of an existing item:

If you are familiar with an item in the same item catalog category in which you wish to create a new item, then you can save time by creating the new item from an existing item. When you copy an item, select the attribute groups and attachment categories to copy; also choose whether or not to copy people and organizational assignments (you can add new manufacturer part numbers, but you cannot copy existing ones). You can modify the copied information to define the new item's specifications.

Note that you must have the appropriate privileges to copy the item's user-defined attributes, operational attributes, attachments, people, and organizational assignments. For example, if you wish to copy the item's attachments, you must have--at a minimum--the View Item Attachments List privilege. Likewise, if you want to copy the item's people, you must have the View Item People List privilege for the base item.

1. Follow the same steps as described above in "To create a new item:", except in the Create field, select Copies of an Existing Item. You can then enter the item and revision to copy.

2. In the Copy Item Details region, select the sequence in which to copy the template item details and the copied item details. Select which specific item details (such as item attribute groups, attachment categories, and people) to copy.