Individual Objects 

Purpose

An individual object is a globally unique tangible or intangible object that a company sells and/or provides services for. It is often a specific single unit derived from a product. Unlike a product, however, an individual object can be uniquely identified. This means that although there may be similar objects, at least one attribute describing the object is different. This is generally the identification. A car, for example, generally has its own specific number plate.

Individual objects constitute unique entities and serve as a central reference for transactions between a company and a business partner. They can be objects a company sells or provides services for. A supplier of electricity, for example, can describe the location to which electricity is delivered using individual objects such as 'building' and 'apartment'.

Individual objects are integrated in the product master and provide you with the tools to maintain the data you require on the objects used in your business processes and track their use within these processes. The product master provides a central source from which object-specific data can be retrieved.

Object data includes the information required for specific business processes (such as customer inquiries, sales orders, service processes, contracts), and other basic data that essentially describes and categorizes the individual object. For example:

·        Data of a descriptive nature such as size and weight

·        Data with a control function such as the item category group for determining the item category for each item in a CRM order

This information is stored in individual product master records. The integration of such data in a single database object eliminates redundant data storage.

Integration

The following applications use individual objects:

·        Interaction Center for Automotive

·        Individual Objects in Leasing

Features

Product Types

The product type describes the basic characteristics of an individual object. It also determines to which categories an object can be assigned, thus defining the character of the object and how it can be used. Only the product type Material can be used for individual objects.

Object Family

Each individual object belongs to an object family. An object family groups together the same types of objects based on the properties of the object. When an individual object is created, it must be assigned an object family.

Attributes and Set Types

Attributes are used to describe individual objects and are grouped together into set types. The use of set types make it possible to model an individual object in a detailed manner in your system. For more information, see Set Types and Attributes.

Categories and Hierarchies

Categories and hierarchies are used for structuring purposes, and allow you to group together individual objects according to different criteria. Categories define which set types and relationship types are allowed for an individual object, thereby enabling you to structure the information you require on your objects through the assignment of categories. For more information, see Categories and Hierarchies.

Relationships

Relationships can be created between individual objects and products or objects to represent certain object information. These may be business partners, components, counters, warranties, or qualification requirements.

Reference Products

Technical and business data can be referenced from products.

Alternative IDs

Alternative ID types can be defined in the product master and used in business processes instead of the individual object ID. Alternative IDs therefore allow you to use an identification in your business processes that conforms to industry standards, for example vehicle identification number (VIN), serial number, ISBN. For more information, see the Alternative IDs section in Customizing (Cross-Application Components ® SAP Products).