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Implementing Manufacturing and Materials Management: From Empty Plant to Costed Work Order · Module 7 · Items and the Item Model

Master versus organization attributes

Lesson 64 of 188 · 2 min

Every item attribute is controlled at either master level — one value for the whole enterprise — or organization level, a value per organization. Almost always master: description, primary unit of measure, item class. Almost always organization: planning parameters, sourcing, lot control behaviour, costing attributes, make-or-buy. And the contested ones: lead time, safety stock, item status, and several planning attributes — these genuinely vary by plant in some businesses and genuinely should not in others. There is no right answer available from the outside. So the question is: could two plants legitimately need different values for this, ever? If yes, organization level. If genuinely never, master level for consistency. And the asymmetry that matters, because neither option is free. Master level enforces consistency and blocks legitimate local variation. Organization level allows variation and permits inconsistency. Notice both sentences have a cost in them: people frame this as "flexible versus controlled"…

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In this module: Module 7 · Items and the Item Model

  1. 1What we are building
  2. 2Why the item model is permanent
  3. 3The item object model
  4. 4Master versus organization attributes
  5. 5Designing the class hierarchy
  6. 6Item numbering
  7. 7Building item classes
  8. 8Item templates
  9. 9Creating items manually
  10. 10The attributes that matter most
  11. 11Assigning items to organizations
  12. 12Item statuses and lifecycle phases
  13. 13Importing items in bulk
  14. 14Data quality before migrationFree preview
  15. 15What breaks
  16. 16Lab briefing: the Halden item model
  17. 17Lab solution walkthrough