Basic Product Data

In order to support large multi-company enterprises, the structure of product data in Dynamics AX has got two levels:

 Shared products – Common to all companies

 Released products – Holding company-specific item data

The data structure of shared products applies to all implementations. But in a small enterprise with only one company, it is possible to manage the products directly in the released product form. When creating a new released product there, Dynamics AX automatically generates a related shared product in the background.

3.3.2.1 Shared Products

The aim of shared product records is to establish a common table containing all products (items) of all companies working together in a Dynamics AX database.

Apart from product number and name/description, shared products do not contain extensive information.

You can access the shared products in the list page Product information management>

Products> All products and product masters. The all products page shows all items at enterprise level, and includes regular products, configurable products, and service items.

Figure 3-11: Selecting an item in the all products list page

If you want to enter a new product, click the button New in the action pane of the all products list page. In the Create product dialog, enter following data:

 Product type – “Item” for stocked products, “Service” for services

 Product subtype – “Product” for regular items, “Product master” for configurable items with variants (see section 7.2.1)

 Product number – To be entered manually, if no automatic number applies from the number sequence

 Product name – Short description in system language

 Search name – Internal text for searching the item

 Retail category – Categorization in retail business, only if applicable (shows if there is a category hierarchy with the role “Retail product hierarchy”)

 Catch weight – Only set to “Yes” for catch weight items (see section 7.2.1) In order to create a regular stocked item, choose the Product type “Item” and the Product subtype “Product”. For intangible items (e.g. services), choose the Product type “Service”. Alternatively, you can also choose the Product type “Item” for an intangible item if linking it to an item model group for non-inventoried items in the released product (see section 7.2.1).

After clicking the button OK in the Create dialog, Dynamics AX shows shared product detail form. The detail form then contains further optional settings.

Apart from the product name and the description in the system language (default language specified in the system parameters) entered in the field Description, you can enter item descriptions in foreign languages after clicking the button PRODUCT/Languages/Translations in the action pane.

By clicking the button PRODUCT/Set up/Product categories in the action pane of the shared product, you can access the category assignment and link the product to categories. Hierarchies are optional if there is the need to create hierarchical product structures.

The button PRODUCT/Set up/Dimension groups in the action pane of the shared product form provides access to the inventory dimension assignment. Available inventory dimensions are divided into three dimension groups:

 Product dimension group – Only available for the product subtype “Product master”, specifying if there are different configurations, sizes, colors, or styles

 Storage dimension group – Specifying if the inventory of the item is tracked at the level of site, warehouse, location, inventory status, or license plate

 Tracking dimension group – Specifying if batch or serial numbers apply

You can leave the dimension groups in the shared product empty. Dimension groups not entered in the shared product have to be entered in the related released products. You want to specify dimension groups at released product level, if different dimension settings per company are required (for example if only one company in your enterprise uses locations).

3.3.2.2 Releasing a Product

Before you can actually register transactions for a new shared product, you have to release it by clicking the button Release products in the action pane of the shared product page. The selected product then shows in the Release products wizard. After switching to the Select companies page of the wizard, put a checkmark in front of all applicable companies. Then confirm the selection by clicking the button Finish on the last page.

If applicable (e.g. in a single-company implementation), you can skip creating a shared product and immediately create a new product in the released products page by clicking the button New in the action pane. If creating a released product this way, the New released product dialog creates a shared product in parallel.

3.3.2.3 Managing Released Products

Released products (Product information management> Products> Released products), also labeled “Item” in some areas of Dynamics AX, contain the item details. Apart from directly accessing the released product form, you can also use the Released product maintenance workspace to access the released products.

In the shared product form, you can access a related released product by clicking the link in the Item number field on the right-hand side of the FactBox Released to companies (selecting the appropriate company) and then clicking the link in the field Item number of the product information dialog.

Figure 3-12: Released order detail form with the tab Purchase expanded

After releasing a new product, you have to populate the following mandatory fields in the released product from:

 Item group (tab Manage costs) – Linking main accounts for ledger integration

 Item model group (tab General) – Specifying item handling and inventory valuation

 Dimension groups (button PRODUCT/Set up/Dimension groups) – Required if not specified in the shared product

 Unit of measure – For purchasing, sales, and inventory

The default for the inventory unit of measure (tab Manage inventory) is specified in the inventory parameters. You can enter other units for sales (tab Sell) and for purchasing (tab Purchase) if there is an applicable unit conversion.

In addition to the mandatory fields, you should enter the Item sales tax group for purchasing on the tab Purchase, and for sales on the tab Sell.

In the field Price on the tab Manage costs, you can enter a base cost price for the item as applicable. If the item applies standard cost valuation (according to selected item model group), click the button MANAGE COSTS/Set up/Item price in the action pane and enter/activate a cost price per site as described in section 7.3.3.

3.3.2.4 Purchasing Related Data and Default Order Settings

The tab Purchase in the released product form contains core purchasing information, including the item sales tax group already mentioned. The Buyer group provides the option to specify the purchasing responsibility for the item.

The lookup field Approved vendor check method, initialized with a default value from the corresponding field in the item model group, controls if you can purchase the item only from approved vendors. If you decide to use approved vendors for the item (with the option “Warning only” or “Not allowed”), enter allowed vendors after clicking the button PURCHASE/Approved vendor/Setup in the action pane.

Clicking the button PLAN/Order settings/Default order settings in the action pane of the released product form provides access to the order settings for the product at company level. An important field in the default order setting form is the Default order type. If the default order type is “Purchase order”, the item is to be purchased from vendors (if no other setting applies from the item coverage). The tab Purchase order in the default order settings contains settings which are specific for purchasing – including default values for lot size (field Multiple), order quantity (field Standard order quantity), and purchase site. Selecting the checkbox Stopped on this tab blocks the item for purchase transactions.

The site specific order settings, accessible by clicking the button PLAN/Order settings/Site specific order settings in the released product form, enable overriding the default order settings at site level (sites represent subsidiaries within a company as described in section 10.1.5). After creating a record with the particular site in the site specific order settings, you can enter a default warehouse for purchasing, inventory, and sales as applicable. If you want to override the default order settings for quantity and lead time, set the slider Override in the site-specific order settings to “Yes”.

When entering an order, default values from the order settings apply (e.g. for the order quantity). You can override the default values in the order line afterwards.

3.3.2.5 Item Coverage

The primary setting for item coverage is the Default order type in the default order settings. On the tab Purchase of the released product detail form, the field Vendor determines the main vendor for purchasing the item.

Coverage groups contain settings for requirements planning (see section 6.3.3). For the applicable coverage group, a general default is specified in the master planning parameters (Master planning> Setup> Master planning parameters, field General coverage group). You can override this default group with a specific coverage group for the selected item on the tab Plan of the released product detail form.

After clicking the button PLAN/Coverage/Item coverage in the action pane of the released product form, further settings for the item – including a minimum and a maximum quantity – are available in the item coverage form. In addition, the item

coverage contains the fields Planned order type (overriding the default order type) and Vendor account (overriding the main vendor specified in the released product form). Depending on the dimension groups, coverage settings are required at inventory dimension level (e.g. per warehouse).