Article

The entity “Article” is representative for the entities “Variant” and “Product” as well. These entities are all based on the same type and physical data model.

Which information is finally provided and maintained on which level is decided on a more logical business driven level.

The figure shows a more detailed but still high level view on the entity “Article” and its sub-entities.

images/download/attachments/29819088/Heiler_PIM_Article_Model.png

Entity	Sub-entity	Sub-entity description
Article	ArticleDetails	Detail information of the Article. Non-language dependent. E.g. Manufacturer name, manufacturer item id, GTIN, etc.
	ArticleTrading	Trading information like order units, content unit, minimum order quantity, or lead time, etc.
	ArticleSupplierRelation	Relationship to one or more suppliers providing the Article including specific information valid in the context of this relationship only (e.g. the supplier’s item id)
	ArticleReference	Relationship between Articles. Typically merchandising relations of the “cross-selling”, “up-selling”, “accessories”, etc.
	ArticleSurcharges	Surcharges of different types used in specific areas of products of some industries.
	ArticleLogistic	Logistic information of Articles like weights, measures, etc. Might be territory dependent.
	ArticleLang	All language dependent text information like names, descriptions and long descriptions.
	ArticleAttribute	Free list of attributes used to provide product type specific information like technical attributes. A list of key-value pairs where the attribute’s name as well as the value are language dependent. An attribute may have additional information like a unit.
	ArticleStructureMap	The assignment of the Article to a certain structure system. Structure systems in PIM are hierarchies representing taxonomies or other classifications of the products information. The assignment points to a certain structure group (a node of leaf in the hierarchy, a class or category). An Article might be categorized in multiple structure systems.
	ArticleSpecialTreatment	Special treatment flags for e.g. hazardous materials used in specific areas of products of some industries.
	ArticleMediaAssetMap	The assignment of digital assets (mainly images and text documents, but also videos, audios). Medias are differentiated by a type the documents assigned represent the different formats or qualities the media asset is available in. For images these are the different derivatives of the images used for different output channels.
	ArticlePrice	Price information of the Article. Prices differ in price type, currency, territory of validity, a period of time of validity and might be buyer-specific. Scaled prices dependent on the buying volume are supported.
	ArticleExtension	Flexible data entity where additional information can be provided, diffenciated by a type. Optionally the information might be language dependent, buyer-specific and/or territory-specific.