Splitting product packaging and physical product

[Bob Morley]

Had an interesting talk today related to a standard Jewelry store practice (and for other b&m retailers).  What they will do is put the product out on display in the retail store facility and have the packaging (typically the box) for the product filed in a location in the warehouse in the back.  When a customer makes a purchase the sales rep will go to the backroom and find the packaging.

It is our standard to put the inventory item in a facility in a specific location -- so in this scenario in a "retail store" facility in some location; perhaps something that represents the "front display unit".  What we do not have a spot in the model (it appears) is where is the packaging -- likely a different location, but still related to the product.

Since it is not really two inventory items; it is just one that has been split; is there a recommendation of how to model this in Ofbiz.  What we would have the system to is during the sales order entry process we would provide the location coordinates to the sales rep so they can easily find the packaging in the backroom.

Similar use case would be a store like "costco" where they would actually put the packaging on the retail floor and the actual product would reside in a "safe location" that would only be retrieved as part of fulfillment.

Has anyone done anything like this or could anyone recommend an approach?

[BJ Freeman]

look in the data model book for inventory Items containers.
I can see using this with some added location.
Not an OOTB setup though.

Bob Morley sent the following on 8/7/2009 7:19 PM:

> Had an interesting talk today related to a standard Jewelry store practice
> (and for other b&m retailers).  What they will do is put the product out on
> display in the retail store facility and have the packaging (typically the
> box) for the product filed in a location in the warehouse in the back.  When
> a customer makes a purchase the sales rep will go to the backroom and find
> the packaging.
>
> It is our standard to put the inventory item in a facility in a specific
> location -- so in this scenario in a "retail store" facility in some
> location; perhaps something that represents the "front display unit".  What
> we do not have a spot in the model (it appears) is where is the packaging --
> likely a different location, but still related to the product.
>
> Since it is not really two inventory items; it is just one that has been
> split; is there a recommendation of how to model this in Ofbiz.  What we
> would have the system to is during the sales order entry process we would
> provide the location coordinates to the sales rep so they can easily find
> the packaging in the backroom.
>
> Similar use case would be a store like "costco" where they would actually
> put the packaging on the retail floor and the actual product would reside in
> a "safe location" that would only be retrieved as part of fulfillment.
>
> Has anyone done anything like this or could anyone recommend an approach?

--
BJ Freeman
http://www.businessesnetwork.com/automation
http://bjfreeman.elance.com
http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=1237480&locale=en_US&trk=tab_pro
Systems Integrator.

[Bob Morley]

Yes that was my first thought as well; but container support is very raw in Ofbiz - to the point where I almost thought it was a mistake (just a scant reference in the presentment layer and a few inventory transfer related services if memory serves).  It would be nice (and seems supported) to move around the container and have the enclosed product move with it.

The trouble with be around service support around standard business processes such as (sales) order entry.  I suspect when an order is processed and shipped it is not going to automatically ship any associated container(s) without some extension to those services (semi-educated guess).

I suspect the other option would be just to hack it in by using ProductAttribute ...

BJ Freeman wrote

look in the data model book for inventory Items containers.
I can see using this with some added location.
Not an OOTB setup though.

[Tim Ruppert]

You can consider me less than a fan of using the Product Attributes  
much :)

Cheers,
Tim
--
Tim Ruppert
HotWax Media
http://www.hotwaxmedia.com

o:801.649.6594
f:801.649.6595

On Aug 7, 2009, at 10:21 PM, Bob Morley wrote:

>
> Yes that was my first thought as well; but container support is very  
> raw in
> Ofbiz - to the point where I almost thought it was a mistake (just a  
> scant
> reference in the presentment layer and a few inventory transfer  
> related
> services if memory serves).  It would be nice (and seems supported)  
> to move
> around the container and have the enclosed product move with it.
>
> The trouble with be around service support around standard business
> processes such as (sales) order entry.  I suspect when an order is  
> processed
> and shipped it is not going to automatically ship any associated
> container(s) without some extension to those services (semi-educated  
> guess).
>
> I suspect the other option would be just to hack it in by using
> ProductAttribute ...
>
>
> BJ Freeman wrote:
>>
>> look in the data model book for inventory Items containers.
>> I can see using this with some added location.
>> Not an OOTB setup though.
>>
>
> --
> View this message in context: http://www.nabble.com/Splitting-product-packaging-and-physical-product-tp24874481p24875015.html
> Sent from the OFBiz - User mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>

[BJ Freeman]

here is how I would approach it.
the product has an inventory Item.
for say the jewelry.
that inventory Item can then have a location for the container as well
as they Item, which for Jewelry would be located in a show case.
When the product is sold the location of the container is displayed as
well as the Item. This requires customization but all the necessary
structure is there.

for something like costco you would have the item in the back and
location of the Card (which is part of the iventory) location in the
store. The Card in this case would not be a container. but part of the
Prodcut as an inventory item.

In my mind Product is a number to sell with. Inventory is what you hold
in your hand.


Bob Morley sent the following on 8/7/2009 9:21 PM:

> Yes that was my first thought as well; but container support is very raw in
> Ofbiz - to the point where I almost thought it was a mistake (just a scant
> reference in the presentment layer and a few inventory transfer related
> services if memory serves).  It would be nice (and seems supported) to move
> around the container and have the enclosed product move with it.
>
> The trouble with be around service support around standard business
> processes such as (sales) order entry.  I suspect when an order is processed
> and shipped it is not going to automatically ship any associated
> container(s) without some extension to those services (semi-educated guess).
>
> I suspect the other option would be just to hack it in by using
> ProductAttribute ...
>
>
> BJ Freeman wrote:
>> look in the data model book for inventory Items containers.
>> I can see using this with some added location.
>> Not an OOTB setup though.
>>
>

--
BJ Freeman
http://www.businessesnetwork.com/automation
http://bjfreeman.elance.com
http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=1237480&locale=en_US&trk=tab_pro
Systems Integrator.

[David E. Jones-2]

For the container data model the term does not refer to product  
packaging, but rather something that a number of items can be put in.  
The idea is to associate the items with the container and not with a  
facility, and then to look up the location of the item you would see  
that it is in a container and look up the location of the container.

Some common forms of containers include inter-office mail bins, sea/
train/truck ISO shipping containers, etc.

-David


On Aug 8, 2009, at 6:01 AM, BJ Freeman wrote:

> here is how I would approach it.
> the product has an inventory Item.
> for say the jewelry.
> that inventory Item can then have a location for the container as well
> as they Item, which for Jewelry would be located in a show case.
> When the product is sold the location of the container is displayed as
> well as the Item. This requires customization but all the necessary
> structure is there.
>
> for something like costco you would have the item in the back and
> location of the Card (which is part of the iventory) location in the
> store. The Card in this case would not be a container. but part of the
> Prodcut as an inventory item.
>
> In my mind Product is a number to sell with. Inventory is what you  
> hold
> in your hand.
>
>
> Bob Morley sent the following on 8/7/2009 9:21 PM:
>> Yes that was my first thought as well; but container support is  
>> very raw in
>> Ofbiz - to the point where I almost thought it was a mistake (just  
>> a scant
>> reference in the presentment layer and a few inventory transfer  
>> related
>> services if memory serves).  It would be nice (and seems supported)  
>> to move
>> around the container and have the enclosed product move with it.
>>
>> The trouble with be around service support around standard business
>> processes such as (sales) order entry.  I suspect when an order is  
>> processed
>> and shipped it is not going to automatically ship any associated
>> container(s) without some extension to those services (semi-
>> educated guess).
>>
>> I suspect the other option would be just to hack it in by using
>> ProductAttribute ...
>>
>>
>> BJ Freeman wrote:
>>> look in the data model book for inventory Items containers.
>>> I can see using this with some added location.
>>> Not an OOTB setup though.
>>>
>>
>
> --
> BJ Freeman
> http://www.businessesnetwork.com/automation
> http://bjfreeman.elance.com
> http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=1237480&locale=en_US&trk=tab_pro
> Systems Integrator.
>

[BJ Freeman]

I know I am stretching the container.
like a type IndividualShipppingContainer.

David E Jones sent the following on 8/8/2009 8:44 AM:

>
> For the container data model the term does not refer to product
> packaging, but rather something that a number of items can be put in.
> The idea is to associate the items with the container and not with a
> facility, and then to look up the location of the item you would see
> that it is in a container and look up the location of the container.
>
> Some common forms of containers include inter-office mail bins,
> sea/train/truck ISO shipping containers, etc.
>
> -David
>
>
> On Aug 8, 2009, at 6:01 AM, BJ Freeman wrote:
>
>> here is how I would approach it.
>> the product has an inventory Item.
>> for say the jewelry.
>> that inventory Item can then have a location for the container as well
>> as they Item, which for Jewelry would be located in a show case.
>> When the product is sold the location of the container is displayed as
>> well as the Item. This requires customization but all the necessary
>> structure is there.
>>
>> for something like costco you would have the item in the back and
>> location of the Card (which is part of the iventory) location in the
>> store. The Card in this case would not be a container. but part of the
>> Prodcut as an inventory item.
>>
>> In my mind Product is a number to sell with. Inventory is what you hold
>> in your hand.
>>
>>
>> Bob Morley sent the following on 8/7/2009 9:21 PM:
>>> Yes that was my first thought as well; but container support is very
>>> raw in
>>> Ofbiz - to the point where I almost thought it was a mistake (just a
>>> scant
>>> reference in the presentment layer and a few inventory transfer related
>>> services if memory serves).  It would be nice (and seems supported)
>>> to move
>>> around the container and have the enclosed product move with it.
>>>
>>> The trouble with be around service support around standard business
>>> processes such as (sales) order entry.  I suspect when an order is
>>> processed
>>> and shipped it is not going to automatically ship any associated
>>> container(s) without some extension to those services (semi-educated
>>> guess).
>>>
>>> I suspect the other option would be just to hack it in by using
>>> ProductAttribute ...
>>>
>>>
>>> BJ Freeman wrote:
>>>> look in the data model book for inventory Items containers.
>>>> I can see using this with some added location.
>>>> Not an OOTB setup though.
>>>>
>>>
>>
>> --
>> BJ Freeman
>> http://www.businessesnetwork.com/automation
>> http://bjfreeman.elance.com
>> http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=1237480&locale=en_US&trk=tab_pro
>>
>> Systems Integrator.
>>
>
>

--
BJ Freeman
http://www.businessesnetwork.com/automation
http://bjfreeman.elance.com
http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=1237480&locale=en_US&trk=tab_pro
Systems Integrator.

[Bob Morley]

Reading between the lines; would it be reasonable to suggest we should consider creating a new entity to represent "inventory item packaging" that would have reference to the inventory item and its own set of facility, container, location, etc. attributes?

Assuming yes, I would guess we would have to determine if this "packaging" entity is going to represnt metadata about the packaging or an actual instance of the packaging.  The location information would suggest the latter, but the nature of the non-serialized inventory item would require a slightly more complicated relationship then a nice one-to-one (50 ns items -> 50 ii packagings).

For us there is no rush on this; we have not prioritized this business requirement against others -- so just building a potential direction to go forward with down the road.

- Bob

David E Jones-4 wrote

For the container data model the term does not refer to product  
packaging, but rather something that a number of items can be put in.  
The idea is to associate the items with the container and not with a  
facility, and then to look up the location of the item you would see  
that it is in a container and look up the location of the container.