Allow sharing of Product Variant relationships across the network

[RaggedStaff]

For one of our current pilots, we urgently need to facilitate the sharing of Product>Variant links across the network.

How do we do this?

Do we use TransformationFlow logic to link a SuppliedProduct to another?

Should we do something else ? Add a new relationship (isVariant)?

This is urgent & FDC can fund this work.

[mkllnk]

The Open Food Network is planning for products be associated in a product group. We mainly want to group products/variants in the shopfront.

Our thinking:

• Product groups are optional. Not all products are related to others as variants.
• Defining relationships only between the variants is not feasible. If you have 100 variants for the same product then each variant would need to point to 99 other variants. That's a fair bit of duplication as well and difficult to maintain.

But what's the purpose in your case?

There could be one wholesale product, for example a pig. And then that's cut up in transformations.

[olivier5741]

Hi @mkllnk , in OFN will you have three concepts : product group, product and variant or just product group and product ?

In my model, I'm only using product and product group concepts (an OFN variant is a product and an OFN product is a product group). A product is what corresponds to a GTIN.

The question for me is whether a product can be in several product groups or not ? So far in my model a product can only be in one product group. I consider that product groups are linked to the transformation line.

If you want to group products together like in a cash register or an online shop, in my model you create a dedicated classification (with categories, complex hierarchy is accepted) and you add the categories to the reference of that product. So DFC product categories, GPC, Google categories can be directly assigned to the product. In house categories can only be assigned to the reference you hold of that product.

[mkllnk]

in OFN will you have three concepts : product group, product and variant or just product group and product ?

Just two concepts: product and product group. Same relationship as in your model.

That's the plan so far. In our DFC API, the Spree::Variant is the same as a DFC SuppliedProduct. Now the question is if the DFC creates a product group which would represent our Spree::Product or if we find a different model. :shrug: