Item Catlog

Question

hi,
1. I like to know the difference between item category and item catlog?
2. When do we use Item catlog and how do we use the item catlog?
Please do give us the navigation path
Regards
sudharshan

Answer 1

Hi sudharshan,
I think the manual (of 11.5.10.2) says a lot about this:
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Overview of Item Categories
You can use categories and category sets to group your items for various reports and programs. A category is a logical classification of items that have similar characteristics. A category set is a distinct grouping scheme and consists of categories.
The flexibility of category sets allows you to report and inquire on items in a way that best suits your needs.
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Overview of Item Cataloging
You can use item cataloging to add descriptive information to items and to partition your Item Master into groups of items that share common characteristics. You configure in advance what is required to uniquely define an item in each group. When you define your items, you assign them to an item catalog group.
To define your catalog, you set up as many distinct item catalog groups as you need to partition your Item Master. Each group has unique characteristics (called descriptive elements) that completely describe items belonging to the group.
When you assign an item to an item catalog group, you define values for the descriptive elements that apply to your item. For example, an item catalog group called Computer could have a descriptive element called Processing Speed. Possible values for Processing Speed might be 100MHZ, 133MHZ, and so on.
Benefits
Once the process of defining and cataloging items is complete, you can:
Provide standard language in referring to items, enabling companies in the same industry to communicate effectively without needing to name their items identically.
Store a detailed description of what an item is without having to embed that meaning in the item number.
Use descriptive elements as search criteria for items.
Update the item description with a concatenated value of the item catalog group information.
Find common existing parts when developing an engineering prototype.
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You should see Categories as List of Values to choose from (fixed list of categories) like Green, Red and Blue for category "Color" and Catalogs as free text information, like detailed product description.
You can find the setup of Item Catalogs and Category in:
Inventory > Setup > Item > Catalog Groups
Inventory > Setup > Item > Categories
More details are in the user and implemenation guide.
best regards,
David.
Edited by: David Weber on Aug 6, 2009 5:10 PM