CHAPTER3Products
Having established the models for parties and party roles and their relationships, this chapter focuses on the products that parties produce and use. Products are defined as goods or services that were, are, or will be sold by the enterprise. Goods are products that are more tangible in nature and generally created in advance for sale. Services are products that involve the use of parties' time and are less tangible in nature. Every organization needs to know a great deal of product information on a regular basis, such as the following issues:
- How do the enterprise's services or goods compare in quality and price to those of its competitors?
- What inventory is needed at each location to meet the needs of customers?
- What are the prices, costs, and profitability for the services or goods that are offered?
- Where can the enterprise purchase the best services and goods at the best prices?
Just as the party model stores common information about parties independent of their roles, the product model stores common product information regardless of whose products they are. This product model is therefore more flexible, stable, and understandable because product information is modeled only one time, regardless of whether it is the enterprise's products, competitors' products, or suppliers' products. This chapter models information on the following areas of product:
- Product definition
- Product category
- Product identification
- Product feature
- Suppliers and manufacturers of ...
