Basic Product Administration

This chapter describes the basic product administration tasks common to both simple and customizable products. It includes the following topics:

About the Product Record

Noncustomizable products are called simple products. Products with features that can be chosen at the time of purchase are called customizable products. There are two types of customizable products:

Products with attributes have features such as size and color that can be chosen.
Products with components have components that can be chosen.

You enter a product into the database by creating a product record. This record stores important information about the product. The only required field in the product record is the product name. However, it is important to associate the record with a price list and a product line. This allows users to create quotes and to find important information about the product. In addition, when you associate a product with a product class, the product inherits the attributes defined on the class.

The following information lists the fields in the product record.

Table Fields in the Product Record

Field	Description
Allocate Below Safety	Click the box to allow allocation below the safe inventory level of this product.
Auto Allocate	Click the box if you are using automatic allocation by the Order Fulfillment engine of a particular product during the fulfillment process.
Auto Substitute	Click the box to allow auto-substitution. Auto-substitution is the automatic use by the Order Fulfillment Engine of a substitute product when the product ordered cannot be found in inventory. The substitute products are set using the Create Substitute form on the Product Field Service Details page.
Check Eligibility	Select this checkbox to make the application check customers' eligibility to buy this product. For more information, see Product and Promotion Eligibility and Compatibility.
Compensable	Select this checkbox if sales personnel can receive compensation for selling the product.
Compound Product	Select this checkbox if this is a networking product which uses compound product validation rules.
Customizable	Displays a check mark if this is a customizable product with a work space and at least one version of the product has been released and is available to users.
Description	Enter a brief description of the product.
Division Code (SAP)	Can be used for setting up user access to products but is not recommended. Instead, set up user access by assigning products to categories.
Effective End	The date after which the product is unavailable. This field is for information only. Versioning controls when the product is available.
Effective Start	Enter the date on which the product becomes available. This field is for information only. Versioning controls when the product is available.
Global Product Identifier	Enter a unique product identification string. Use this field to map products from one Siebel installation to another or to a third-party product master. This field is useful when the string in the Part # field is required for local use or is not compatible with third-party product masters. This field is intended for use by integrators needing to move product information between applications.
Equivalent Product	Displays the primary equivalent product. Click the select button in this field to display all equivalent products or to add additional equivalent products.
Field Replaceable	Select this checkbox if this is a field-replaceable unit.
Format	For training products, select a training format such as Instructor led and Web-based.
Image File Name	Select the image file associated with the product. You can also select the image in the Administration - Product screen, Collateral, and then Images. The optimal bitmap dimensions for product images are 4.15 x 4.15 inches, 12.14 x 12.14 cm, or 398 x 398 pixels.
Inclusive Eligibility	Select this checkbox to specify inclusive eligibility. For more information, see Defining Product and Promotion Eligibility Rules.
Integration Id	Enter the back-office application product ID. This field can be used by SAP and Oracle Product Connectors.
Item Size	Enter the numeric product size.
Lead Time	Enter the standard lead time for ordering the product. Measured in weeks. For example, if you enter 2, this means 2 weeks.
Locked Flag	Select this checkbox to lock the product so it can be modified.
Locked By	Displays the user who locked the product.
MTBF	Enter the mean time between failures for the product.
MTTR	Enter the mean time to repair the product.
Orderable	Select this checkbox if the product can be ordered. Determines whether a product can be listed as a quote line item on a quote. All components you add to a product with components must be orderable.
Organization	Can be used for setting up user access to products but is not recommended. Instead, set up user access by assigning products to categories. If the default organization is changed accidentally, this change can affect EIM and product migrations, because the application cannot find the default value of the organization while importing the product record.
Parent Product	Select the parent product. This field is for information only. It is not used for creating or managing products with components.
Part #	Enter the part number of the product.
Part Number Method	Select the part number generation methods that can be assigned to a product. This menu is part of the smart part number feature, described in Smart Part Numbers for Products with Attributes.
Price Type	Select the price type. Options are: One-Time. The customer pays once to buy the product. Recurring. The customer pays a fixed recurring fee to use the product. An example is a fixed monthly fee for local telephone service. Usage. The customer pays for the product based on usage. An example is the charge for electricity, based on how much you consume.
Primary Vendor	Select the primary vendor for the product. The primary vendor must be specified to associate the product with an opportunity in the Opportunity Product Analysis Chart view.
Product	Enter the name of the product. Products that will be added to the same user access category must not have the same name. The name must be only alphanumeric characters. Special characters such as $ and / are not supported for customizable product scripting or for Siebel Product Configurator APIs.
Product Class	Select the product class to which you want to assign this product. The product will inherit all the attributes defined on the class or that are inherited by the class. This is the field in the Workspace version. For the information to take effect, you must click Release to release the product.
Product Level	Enter the numeric product level in the product hierarchy. This field is for record keeping only and is not used to create or manage the product class system.
Product Line	Select the desired product line for the product.
Project Resource	Select this checkbox if the product is a service for a project. This determines if the product is going to be available in the rate list.
Qty	Enter the number of items in the unit of measure. For example, if the unit of measure is a case, Qty would be the number of items in the case, such as 24.
Return if Defective	Select this checkbox to indicate that a defective product must be returned by the customer when a replacement is shipped. Deselect the checkbox if customers must not return defective products.
Revision	Select the revision level of the product as it goes through revisions.
Sales Product	Select this checkbox if the product is a sales product. This determines whether the product is displayed in the Product picklist for Opportunities.
Serialized	Select this checkbox if movement of the product (a transaction) requires an asset number or its corresponding serial number. The default is no check mark or X (not serialized). Note: If the Serialized field is selected, you must enter the Asset # field of the Quote item, Order item or Asset.
Service Product	Select this checkbox if the product is a service. Only products designated as service products will display when you click the Service button on a quote. Special pricing rules apply to service products. For more information, see Siebel Pricing Administration Guide.
Ship Carrier	Select the name of the shipping carrier for this product.
Ship Method	Select the shipping mode: air ground, and so on.
Status	Select the status of the product: prototype, alpha, beta, and so on.
Structure Type	Select the type of structure the product has. Options are: None. Simple product. Bundle. Bundle product. Customizable. Customizable product. Structure Type controls whether the Customize button appears in the product selection, quote, and order user interface. Structure Type does not control how the product appears in the Siebel Product Configurator User Interface. A product appear as a customizable product in Siebel Product Configurator as long as it has either attributes or components that the user can select, regardless of Structure Type.
Targeted Country	Select the country where you want to sell this product.
Targeted Industry	Select the industry you want to target with this product.
Targeted Max Age	Enter the maximum age of buyers for this product.
Targeted Min Age	Enter the minimum age of buyers for this product.
Targeted Postal Code	Enter the postal code where you want to target sales of this product.
Tax Subcomponent Flag	Select this checkbox to compute the tax on a bundle by adding up the tax on its components. Useful when the tax rate or computation method is not the same for all the components in a bundle.
Taxable	Select this checkbox if the product is taxable.
Thumbnail Image File Name	Select the thumbnail image file associated with the product. You can also select the thumbnail image in Product Administration, then Product Images.
Tool	Click the box if this product is a tool, such as one used by field service engineers.
Track as Asset	Select this checkbox if, when the product is purchased, you want to track it as a customer asset to allows you to create quotes and orders based on the asset. For more information, see the topic about asset-based ordering in Siebel Order Management Guide.
Type	Select the product type: product, service, or training. You must select a Type if users will be using the Spread Discount feature in Quotes. If you create custom values in this list, you must configure the product using Oracle's Web Tools to make the Spread Discount feature work. For more information about Spread Discount, see Siebel Order Management Guide.
Unit of Measure	Select the unit of measure by which the product is sold, for example, Each.
Vendor Part #	Enter the vendor's part number for this product.
Vendor Site	Displays the primary vendor's location. This field is filled automatically when you select a vendor.

Process of Creating Simple Products

This process covers the essential tasks that you must perform to create a simple product and make it visible to users. Other tasks for creating simple products are covered in the rest of this chapter.

To create a simple product, perform the following tasks:

Creating a Product Record

You enter products into the Siebel application by creating product records. The product record contains the product name and important information about the product, such as its product line name or part number.

You add a new product record by clicking the New button. This creates the new product without releasing it, and locks the workspace.

This task is a step in Process of Creating Simple Products.

To create a product record

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
In the Products list, add a new record and complete the necessary fields, described in About the Product Record.

Associating a Product with Price Lists

Products are not visible to customers unless they are associated with price lists that are assigned to the customers.

For more information on creating price lists and assigning them to customers, see Siebel Pricing Administration Guide.

This task is a step in Process of Creating Simple Products.

To associate a product with a price list

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
In the Products list, select the desired product.
Click the Pricing view tab.
In the Price Lists list, add a new record and select the desired price list.
Complete the remaining fields as needed.
For more information about these fields, see Siebel Pricing Administration Guide.

Setting Up User Access To a Product

You must set up user access to allow the user to select a product for a quote or to see the product in a catalog.

The catalog administrator creates product catalogs, which contain product categories. The catalog administrator sets up access controls by assigning access groups to the catalog and to the categories. For information about creating catalogs and categories and giving users visibility to them, see Siebel Order Management Guide.

The product administrator assigns products to catalogs and categories. You can assign a product to more than one category, and thus more than one catalog.

Until you assign a product to at least one category, the product does not display in the following places:

On eSales Web pages. When customers buy your products through the Web, they cannot see the product.
While browsing catalogs. When salespeople click the Browse Catalog button to view products in catalogs, they cannot see the product.

Note: For products with components, you must give users access to the product with components and all its components. To accomplish this, first assign the product with components and its components to the same product category or to categories that have the same access groups. Then assign users who will configure the product to these access groups. If the users in the access groups differ across components, these users will not be able to configure the product with components correctly.

The recommended method for assigning users to access groups is to assign the users to organizations and then assign the organizations to the access groups.

This task is a step in Process of Creating Simple Products.

To set up user access

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
In the Products list, select the desired product.
Click the Category view tab.
Add a new record to the Category list.
A dialog box appears that lists all the currently defined categories.
Select a category from the dialog box.
Repeat Step 4 and Step 5 to add all the categories needed to give users visibility to this product.

Releasing a Simple Product

Though simple products do not have a Versions list, they are versioned objects. A new version was created when you created the product, and you must release this version to make the product visible to users.

For more information about versioned objects, see Releasing Products and Other Versioned Objects.

This task is a step in Process of Creating Simple Products.

To release a simple product

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
In the Products list, select the simple product.
Click Release.

Setting Up Products with Recurring Prices

Some products involve recurring prices. For example, customers pay a monthly fee for telephone service. For more information, see the topic about multiple price types in Siebel Pricing Administration Guide.

To set up a product with recurring prices

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
In the Products list, select the desired product.

In the More Info form, confirm that the fields are filled out appropriately, as described in the following table:

Field	Comments
Price Type	Confirm that this is set to Recurring.
Unit of Measure	Confirm that this is set to an appropriate value for a recurring price, such as Per Month.

Creating Product Lines

Product lines are used to group your products.

For example, if you sell clothing, men's shirts may be one product line, women's shirts may be a second product line, and so on.

Note: You can add products to a product line by selecting them when you add the Product Line record, as described in this procedure. When you create a new product that is part of the product line, you can add it to the product line by selecting it in the Product Line field of the Product record.

To create a product line name

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Product Lines view.

In the Product Lines list, add a new record and complete the necessary fields. Some fields are described in the following table.

Field	Comments
Product Line	Enter a name for the product line.
Product Line Manager	Optionally, select product line managers and other key personnel associated with the product line.
Products	Select all the products in this product line.

Defining Product Features

Products frequently share common features, such as size or data transfer rate. You can create a list of these product features and assign features to products.

Product features are different from product attributes:

A product feature describes important characteristics of a product, particularly those that differentiate the product. For example, you sell a type of office chair that has aluminum construction. Your competitors sell the same office chair with steel construction. Aluminum construction is an important feature of the office chair because it differentiates the chair from your competitors. It is also a static feature and cannot be chosen by the customer. All of your customers who purchase this office chair get aluminum construction.
A product attribute is a characteristic of a product that the customer can choose when purchasing the product. For example, the office chair fabric comes in one of three colors. Color is an attribute of the office chair because the user can choose the color at the time of purchase.

To define product features

create the product features.
associate the product features with products.

To create product features

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Product Features view.

In the Product Features list, add a new record and complete the necessary fields. Some fields are described in the following table.

Field	Comments
Feature	Enter the name of the product feature.
Product Line	Optionally, select a product line that is associated with this product feature.

The application adds these features to the Features picklist, so you can assign them to individual products.

To assign a key feature to a product

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
In the Products list, select the product to which you want to assign a key feature.
Click the Collateral view tab.
In the Collateral link bar, click Key Features.
In the Key Features list, add a new record and select the feature in the Features field.
Repeat Step 5 to add additional key features for the product.

Defining Related Products

You can define several types of relationships between products. This causes the related products to appear together in other parts of the Siebel application.

For example, if you define a substitute product in the Related Products view, the substitute product displays in the Product Service Details view. If you define a substitute product in the Product Service Details view, it displays automatically as a substitute product in the Related Products view.

You can define the following types of relationships:

Bundled
Component
Cross-Promoted
Integrated
Recommended Service
Service
Substitute

To define related products

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
In the Products list, select the product with which you want to associate related products.
Click the Recommendations view tab.
In the Recommendations view link bar, click Related Products.
In the Related Products list, add a new record.
The Add Internal Products dialog box appears.
Select the desired product.
The product appears in the Related Products list.
To change the relationship of the related product, click in the Relation field and choose the desired relationship from the drop-down menu.

Defining Equivalent Products

For each product you define, you can designate one or more other products as equivalent products. You can then display these products and compare their product features. You can also assign a ranking to the equivalent products that reflects their degree of equivalence.

Equivalent products differ from substitute products in that they do not automatically display in the Field Service Details view.

You can designate one of the equivalent products as the primary equivalent product. The equivalent primary product is the one displayed in the Equivalent Products field in the product definition and other places where the display allows only one equivalent product to be shown.

To designate equivalent products

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
In the Products list, select the desired product.
In the More Info form, click the show more button to expand the form.
Expanding the form displays the Equivalent Product field.
Click the select button in the Equivalent Product field.
1. Use the Equivalent Products dialog box to add equivalent products.
2. In the dialog box, select the Primary field for one product that you are adding to designate it as the primary equivalent product.
3. Click OK to exit the dialog box.
  The primary equivalent product appears in the Equivalent Product field in the product record.

Comparing Features of Equivalent Products

You compare equivalent products by displaying all the equivalent products for a product and then selecting which features you want to use for the comparison. You can then rank the equivalent products.

To compare features of equivalent products

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
In the Products list, select the desired product.
Click the Collateral view tab.
In the Collateral view link bar, click Key Features.
The Product Comparison list appears beside the Key Features list. Equivalent products are displayed in the columns of the Product Comparison list.
In the Product Comparison list, add a new record.
A dialog appears that contains all the product feature definitions.
Select the desired product from the dialog box.
The feature is added to the Product Comparison list.
Repeat these steps until all the desired features have been added.
Assign a ranking to the equivalent products, if desired.
A rank of 1 means a product has the highest degree of equivalence relative to the other equivalent products.

Creating Product Entitlements

Entitlements refer to the services that come with a product. They are created on the Product Entitlements page under Product Administration.

When you create a product entitlement, you can designate the entitlement as applicable to Agree Line Item Products and/or Entitlement Template Products. These are for Field Service use. For more information, see Siebel Field Service Guide.

Entitlement templates are used for different purposes in the Administration - Product screen and in the Administration - Service screen:

Administration - Product screen. If you associate product with an entitlement template in the Administration - Product screen, as described in the following procedure, any customer who buys that product will automatically have those entitlements.
Administration - Service screen. If you associate product with an entitlement template in the Service Administration, Entitlement Templates, and then the Products view, you indicate that this product is covered by the entitlement. When this entitlement template is used in a contract, the contract will automatically cover all the products listed under the entitlement templates.

To create product entitlements

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
In the Products list, select the product for which to create entitlements.
Click the Service Information view tab.
In the Service Information view link bar, click Entitlements.
In the Entitlements list, add a new record.
Click the select button in the Name field and select an Entitlement template from the Entitlement Templates dialog box.
The entitlement template record is added to the Product Entitlements list.
Click in the Agree Line Item or Entitlement Template Products field to set these features.
A check mark appears to indicate these features are set.

Associating Literature with Products

You associate literature with products so salespeople can use this literature to sell the products. Product literature is associated with the product as an attachment, so it can be used for such things as product brochures, competitive analyses, and image files.

Note: When you choose literature to associate with a product, only literature of the type Sales Tool is displayed. When you create literature to be associated with products in this way, be sure to choose Sales Tool in the Type field. For more information about creating literature, see Siebel Applications Administration Guide.

To associate literature with a product

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
In the Products list, select the desired product.
Click the Collateral view tab.
In the Collateral view link bar, click Literature.
In the Literature list, add a New Record.
The Add Literature dialog box appears.
Select the desired literature items.

Associating Product News with Products

Product news is information about a product that is displayed in Self-Service and eSales as inline text associated with the product.

Product news is not the same as product literature, which is covered in Associating Literature with Products.

To add a news item to a product

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
In the Products list, select a product to which you want to add a news item.
Click the Collateral view tab.
In the Collateral view link bar, click News.
In the News list, add a new record.
The Pick Product News dialog box appears. To read the first few lines of a news item in the dialog box, place your cursor over it.
Select the desired news item.
The news item appears under Product News with its title under the Solution field and the solution type set to Product News.
Edit the record as needed by clicking the desired field.

Uploading a New Image in the Application

To upload a New Image in the Application

You can upload new images in the application.

Navigate to the Administration - Document screen, then Literature.
Click New to upload a new image.

Associating Images with Products

You can associate both a thumbnail image and a regular image with a product.

To associate images with a product

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
Click the Collateral view tab.
In the Collateral view link bar, click Images.
In the Images form, in the Image File Name field, select an image.
In the Images form, in the Thumbnail Image File Name field, select an image.

Creating Product Field Service Details and Measurements

You provide information about how to replace a defective part with substitute parts in the Administration - Product screen, then the Product Service Details view. Most field service information is entered when creating products in the Products view, but Inventory Options and Substitute Products are managed in the Product Field Service Details view.

The Administration - Product screen, then the Measurements view is used to define which measurements field service personnel must make and what the parameters of those measurements must be.

For more information about both of these, see Siebel Field Service Guide.

Exporting and Importing Products

You can import and export products using Workspace Projects view. For more information, see Migrating Products Among Environments.

About Managing Product Records

You can manage product records in the following ways:

Editing Product Records

You can change the content of any of the fields in a product record. Changing the class to which a product is assigned can change the attributes the product inherits. If the product's attributes change, you must revise all products with components in which the product is component. Verify that no configuration rules or scripts refer to attributes the product no longer has.

Caution: If you change the name of the product, you must revise all products with components in which this product is a component. Also revise the configuration rules, UI design, and scripts that refer to the product.

Copying Product Records

When you copy a product record, all parts of the product definition are included in the copy.

If you copy a customizable product record, the copy includes all the relationships, links, resources, scripts, rules, and user interface of the product version in the workspace.

Use the Copy feature to create product templates. For example, your product line has a two-tiered structure. The first tier contains a half-dozen products that have a similar basic structure. The second tier contains products based on the structure of the products in the first tier.

You could create the first tier by copying a template product with components 6 times. You would then modify each of the copies to form the first tier. These then become the templates you would use to create the second tier.

To copy a product record

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
In the Products list, select the product you want to copy.
From the menu, choose Copy Record.
A new record appears.
Enter a name for the copy in the Product Field.
Revise other fields, such as Part # as desired.

Deleting Product Records

You cannot delete a product record. If you no longer want to use the product, you can deactivate all versions rather than deleting the product.

If you have a large number of inactive versions for a given product, you can delete the versions using the CleanupSingleObject method of the ISS Authoring Import Export Service. For more information, see Siebel Order Management Guide.

To deactivate a product

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, and then the Products view.
In the Products list, select and lock the desired product.
In the Versions view, deselect the Active checkbox for the Work Space version.
Release the Work Space version.

Exporting Product Records for Display

You can export product records in several formats for display.

For example, you can download files in comma-separated format for display in Microsoft Excel. The supported formats are as follows:

Tab delimited file
Comma separated file (csv format for use with spreadsheets like Excel)
HTML file
A file with delimiters you specify

You can request all the rows in the current query or only the highlighted rows. You can request all columns or only the currently visible columns. Currently visible columns are those you have selected for display in the Columns Displayed form.

When you export a product with components or bundle for display, only the root-level product record is exported. The structure of the product with components or bundle is not exported.

Note: This procedure exports only product records for use in other display mediums such as spreadsheets. This procedure does not export the structure of a product or any other information contained in records related to the product record. To export product structures and other information in XML format for use by other applications, see Exporting and Importing Products.

To export product records for display

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
In the Products list, select the products you want to export.
Verify that the columns displayed are those you want to export.
To add or subtract columns, from the Products menu, choose Columns Displayed.
To export the product records for display, from the Products menu, choose Export...
Do not click Export Product. This will export the product information in XML format for use by other applications.

The File Download dialog box appears.
Follow the instructions in the File Download dialog box to save the file.

Creating a Product List Report

You can obtain a report that lists all the products in the product table. For each product, the report shows the following information:

Product name
Part number
Description
Unit of measure
Vendor
Product line
Effective start date
Effective end date

The product list displays in the Siebel Report Viewer. You can print the report or create an email attachment.

Tip: The on-screen display of the report typically lists more products on each page than the Products list. Use the report to scan through the product table.

To create a product list report

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Products view.
Click the Reports button at the start of the screen, and from the Reports menu, select Admin Product List.
Use the dialog box to run the report.
The Siebel Report Viewer appears and displays the Admin Product List report.
Print the report or create an email attachment as desired.

Clearing the Siebel Product Configurator Cache to Improve Performance

The best practice is to force a full resynchronization of the Siebel Product Configurator cache periodically. For example, you might resynchronize the cache once a month, when there is a low load on the Siebel application. How often you should actually resynchronize the cache depends on how rapidly changes to versioned objects accumulate over time in your implementation.

Two special tables, S_VOD_CASHESYNC and S_VOD_CACHEREQ are used to drive the synchronization process and are queried frequently. Records in those tables are hold temporary information that facilitate cache synchronization. This information can accumulate over time, causing performance degradation. You notice this degradation as queries become slower.

To force resynchronization, select the menu option that invokes the ResetSKC method to clear the full Siebel Product Configurator cache for Products, Product Classes and Attribute Definitions.

To clear the Siebel Product Configurator cache to speed queries

Navigate to the Administration - Products screen, then the Cache Administration view.
From the applet menu, select Refresh Cache.