Help me to define Merchandise hierarchy

[Sven Wesley <sv...@gmail.com>]

Hi all (again), further down the definition-of-words-jungle
We're integrating Ofbiz with another system and now we've got stuck at
Merchandise hierarchy.

I see it this way:
Merchandise hierarchy is the categories/subcategories for products, and a
product is a variant collection. As in Ofbiz more or less.
In my eyes this a working example:

Catalog
   -Electronics
   -Clothes
       -Women
          -Trousers
          -Blouses
          -Jackets
       -Men
          -Jeans
          -Shirts
          -Underwear

Under every subcategory there can be products with all the variants, in this
example [Levis 501]-[XS,X,M,L,XL] should be connected to Men-Jeans.
This is also how other ERP's I've been working with handles the structure.



Some of my colleagues on the other hand, says that the product and the items
also should be a part of the merchandise structure. They see the product
_and_ variants as a part of the Merchandise hierarchy. Therefore it should
look like this according to them:

Catalog
   -Electronics
   -Clothes
       -Women
          -Trousers
          -Blouses
          -Jackets
       -Men
          -Jeans
             -Levis 501
                -XS
                -X
                -M
                -L
                -XL
          -Shirts
          -Underwear

And then, the items (data object for a variant) should be connected to their
matching subcategory. Products should then only exist as variants.


The funny part is that both sides say that their view of the problem is
supported by ARTS.
I'm not saying one is right or one is wrong, but I would like to hear your
opinion about it.

Re: Help me to define Merchandise hierarchy

[Jacques Le Roux <ja...@les7arts.com>]

My feeling is to prefer the 1st version : sizes are variations of an article as colors are. 
But this is not a rule... only a rule of thumb...

My 2 cts

Jacques

From: "Sven Wesley" <sv...@gmail.com>
> Hi all (again), further down the definition-of-words-jungle
> We're integrating Ofbiz with another system and now we've got stuck at
> Merchandise hierarchy.
>
> I see it this way:
> Merchandise hierarchy is the categories/subcategories for products, and a
> product is a variant collection. As in Ofbiz more or less.
> In my eyes this a working example:
>
> Catalog
>   -Electronics
>   -Clothes
>       -Women
>          -Trousers
>          -Blouses
>          -Jackets
>       -Men
>          -Jeans
>          -Shirts
>          -Underwear
>
> Under every subcategory there can be products with all the variants, in this
> example [Levis 501]-[XS,X,M,L,XL] should be connected to Men-Jeans.
> This is also how other ERP's I've been working with handles the structure.
>
>
>
> Some of my colleagues on the other hand, says that the product and the items
> also should be a part of the merchandise structure. They see the product
> _and_ variants as a part of the Merchandise hierarchy. Therefore it should
> look like this according to them:
>
> Catalog
>   -Electronics
>   -Clothes
>       -Women
>          -Trousers
>          -Blouses
>          -Jackets
>       -Men
>          -Jeans
>             -Levis 501
>                -XS
>                -X
>                -M
>                -L
>                -XL
>          -Shirts
>          -Underwear
>
> And then, the items (data object for a variant) should be connected to their
> matching subcategory. Products should then only exist as variants.
>
>
> The funny part is that both sides say that their view of the problem is
> supported by ARTS.
> I'm not saying one is right or one is wrong, but I would like to hear your
> opinion about it.
>