Dimensions and Values

Use dimensions and values within these dimensions to differentiate process templates and variants.

The following diagram is interactive and contains examples of possible dimensions that you can use to define process variants and templates:

Click each element for more information.

Geography

Multinational companies need to manage processes in different countries and regions while keeping variations in respect to a standard process to a minimum.

Product

Companies with different product lines and brands need to manage processes related to different products, manufacturing sites, capabilities, and procedures.

Customer Type

Companies that produce and sell to different kinds of customers need to introduce variants related to the different channels their customers use.

Process variants differ from their template in at least one value. That value either belongs to the same dimension used by the template, or to an additional dimension.

Example

These could be dimensions and values created by a company that produces coffee and tea:

Dimension	Template	Variant 1	Variant 2	Variant 3
Region	Global	Global	Africa	South America
Product Type	Coffee	Coffee	Coffee	Coffee
Department	n/a	Sales	n/a	n/a

Activities

Dimensions are stored as dictionary categories, and values are stored as dictionary entries.

You can add and edit dictionary categories in the editor. Any dictionary category that you want to use as a dimension in variant management needs to be defined as such:

Choose Setup Define notations/attributes Dictionary.
Add a new category and fill in the required information.

To change an existing category, select the category name and choose Edit.
Select the Use for Variant Management checkbox.
Save your changes.