Item Master

Good morning and welcome to Maximo Bite Size, a podcast on the functionality of Maximo Manage. Today is the third episode in the series on Inventory and this is the first article discussing the features of the Item Master application.

As you might imagine the Item Master application has a lot of features, too many for one episode. In this episode we will focus on defining items and we’ll look at a few features which are too small to warrant their own episode.

Defining Items

When you use the New Item button the item number will not be defaulted unless you add an autokey default value in the Database Configuration application. As there is likely to be thousands of items, you should consider using the autonumber ITEMNUM, unless the items are mastered in another system and interfaced into Maximo, in which case you are likely to prohibit the insert action by deselecting the New Item access in Security Groups (Manage).

Another reason for using an autokey is that there is no Delete Item action and if you create a coded value for the item number, you will not be able to change it, you can change the description, but as with all key fields, after save you will not be able to change the key value, and in the case of items you won’t be able to delete the record. If you use an autokey you will be able to repurpose the record by changing its description.

A further reason for using a numeric code is that while the ITEMNUM field is generously defined as UPPER 30, the application screens will show about 12 digits or characters before some of the values require you to scroll horizontally. Using an autokey is not likely to exceed 12 characters, even with a prefix, but left to users to enter a value and 12 characters is quite likely to be exceeded.

Identifying one item from another when there could be 10,000+ items require a very good use of the Description field, which defaults to a field type and width of ALN 100. You can also search by Commodity Group and Commodity Code; these fields appear on the Select Value lookup of an item which will help to narrow the search.

Items are one of the many applications which support a Classification and a Specification of attributes associated with the classification. The Classification is selected on the Specifications tab, and the classification’s attributes will be copied from its specification, the CLASSPEC object.

In the Classifications application you can define that the classification or one or more of its attributes are used in the generation of the description of the record being classified. Both the Use Classification and Generate Description fields need to be set, and on the attributes, you may wish to use a Description Prefix to distinguish between multiple attributes in the item’s description. The attribute Unit of Measure is also included in the description generation. If you set all attributes as being used in the description generation then you are likely to exceed the 100 characters, therefore use this feature only on those attributes useful in helping to identify similar items.

You can also search for Items using a Classification based search or an Attribute based search. The Classification Search gives you a drilldown of classifications and the item list is narrowed to those for the selected classification. You can narrow the search by using one or more Attribute Search Values and then use the Refine action. The Attribute Search only allows you to search by one or more attributes and their values, and after using the Refine action the list of items is narrowed based on those attribute values, however, items from different classifications that happen to use the same attribute will be mixed. It is more likely you will use the Classification Search rather than the Attribute Search.

An Item is defined against an Item Set which can be shared across multiple organizations which share the same base currency, but they may have different languages. France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands all share the Euro currency, but each has its own language, and while the base language of Maximo might be in English, the users of the Maximo system may need to have their items described using their own language.

Maximo supports language tables and the Item object is defined with a language table. If you want to share items but have multiple descriptions for each item, one for each language, then you should also consider adding a language table to the CLASSIFICATION and CLASSSTRUCTURE objects. You will find in the Links section of the transcript an article I wrote a few years ago on – Item Classifications – Generating Descriptions in Multiple Languages.

While finding the right item accurately is so important, you also need to control who can create new items to avoid duplication, multiple item records that point to the same item. Duplicate records are very easy to create, and once created, you cannot delete them, you can only change their status to Obsolete. Duplicates are often created through bulk import so be careful if a request is made to bulk load items after your Maximo system is in production. Limiting who can insert new item records should make it easier to manage the discipline of checking whether the item already exists before a new item is created. Ideally you would also restrict who can save updates in the Item Master application, accuracy in the item data is important.

If we can search for items, then we should be able to verify that we have the right item. Maximo supports the creation of a single image through the Add/Modify Image action. Other images can be linked through attached documents; the View Attachments dropdown has a set of actions. When you are on an item field in another application, for example the PO application and you are entering PO lines, then a right-click action View Image will provide an image of the selected item.

Item Master Settings

We will discuss Rotating, Condition Enabled, Lot, and Kit items in future episodes, but there are plenty of other settings found at the top of the Item Master application. For many of these you will find existing articles in Maximo Secrets in the Links section at the bottom of the transcript.

Beneath the two Commodity Group and Commodity Code fields are the fields Meter GroupA Meter Group is a set of meters and can include all three meter types. More and MeterA Meter is an identifier for recording meter readings, measurements and observations on assets or locations. More. There is no connection between these two fields, Meter Groups is only associated with Rotating Items and the Meter Group you set here will be copied to the Assets and Locations linked to the Rotating Item and hence the asset or locationA physical place where assets exist and where work can be performed. More will inherit the meters belonging to the meter group.

The Meter field is used with measured materials and is most often used with petrol, diesel and oils. If an asset has the same meter as that referenced on the item, then if you issued 50 litres of the item to the asset, then the meter reading would be incremented by 50. It is only Continuous type meters that can be added to the Meter field on an item. If the meter is on the location and this is referenced on the issue, then it will also be updated by the quantity issued.

The Maximum Quantity Issued field sets a limit to the total quantity of an item that can be issued to an asset. In the Assets application and Spare Parts tab, the Issued Qty field is incremented by the quantity that you issue. If you return the item the Issued Qty is reduced by the quantity returned. You would receive an error if the Maximum Quantity Issued would be exceeded. A use case for this field is software on an asset. A PC or laptop would only require one copy of Visio or Project, therefore setting Maximum Quantity Issued to one would raise an error if you attempted to issue Visio or Project a second time to the same PC. It does not work for rotating items as you would be issuing an asset, it only works for items that would appear in the Spare Parts table of the asset.

The Receipt Tolerance % field is the percentage value of an item that can be over received on a purchase order. The Receipt Tolerance % is also found on the Item/Organization Details and this is a better place to enter a percentage. The Receipt Tolerance will also be found on the Inventory and Inventory Vendor records where it is defaulted from the same field on the Item/Organization Details, but the percentage values can be changed. On a PO line if the vendor on the PO has an Inventory Vendor record, then its Receipt Tolerance % will be used, but then if you charge to a storeroom, then the value will be replaced by the Receipt Tolerance % on the Inventory record.

On the right-hand side of the Item Master application is a series of check boxes. The Capitalized checkbox is read-only and changed by using the action Change Capitalized Status. A capitalized item has no inventory costs, and the item will be issued and returned at zero cost. Tool items are always capitalized, and you cannot change this. You are more likely to use this setting with rotating items and their assets and set up a depreciation schedule to depreciate the cost of the asset over its useful life. Maximo does not require the rotating field to be set on the item to use the Change Capitalized Status action.

The Inspect on Receipt checkbox when set will mean that the item being received will have to pass through an inspection process in the Receiving application. The setting on the Item Master record is a default for when the item is used on the lines of purchasing and contract documents, for example MR, PR, RFQ, PO, Purchase and other types of contracts.

The Add as Spare PartAn asset may have subassemblies and spare parts, the spare parts are those individual items used to maintain the asset. More field when set will add the item as a spare part to an asset when the item is issued to the asset which may be via a work order. For items that are marked as rotating, then the Add as Spare Part field will be cleared and made read-only. A rotating item when issued to an asset will become a subassembly of the asset and not a spare part.

When issuing a rotating item to an asset there is another field – Attach to Parent Asset on Issue? – which will add the issued asset as a subassembly of the asset referenced on the issue transaction. The issue transaction, which is often against a work order must also reference a location as when the asset is issued it must exist in a location. This functionality is not available for tools which can also be rotating and have asset records with subassemblies.

The Tax Exempt field is another checkbox, when set a message pops up asking if you also want to set the same field on the Item/Organization Details and any Inventory Vendor records linked to the item. This setting only effects records changed through Item Master, Tools and Service Items applications. For items created through an integration there is a field – Apply Tax-exempt Status to Item at Organization Level and at Vendor Level? – which does something similar, it will be found in the OrganizationsA structural element of a Maximo database which is used for data sharing. More application and System Settings. Items can be tax exempt, and the setting on the Inventory Vendor or Item/Organization Details is used to set a similar field on the PR and PO lines when the item is referenced.

One final setting worth mentioning doesn’t exist in the Item Master application but in the Job Plans application and the Work Assets tab. This allows a work order to be created automatically when the item is received, the Job Plan is applied to the work order. When an item is referenced, you check the field in the Purchasing Details section – Create WO When Purchasing This Item? – and enter a value from the lookup on the field – Work Type of Created Work Order. If the Job Plan is at Active state, then a work order will be created when you next receive the item. This feature was originally added for the receipt of rotating items, but it also now works with non-rotating items if they are marked as Issue on Receipt and not destined for a storeroom. It also works with the receipt of Tools and Service Items with the Issue on Receipt field set on the PO line. The work order is created when the inspection status for the item has reached Complete.

Alternate Items

Alternate Items is a table that will be found at the bottom of the Item Master application which allows you to select other items which are interchangeable with the item, an alternate item. An item in Maximo can be brand agnostic, a single item allows you to enter different manufacturer or vendor details under the Vendors tab, the Inventory Vendor records. All the brands of a certain type of battery can be included under the one Item Master record.

If you wish to understand whether some brands perform better than others then you can create multiple item records one for each brand in which case you should use the Alternate Items table to indicate which other items could be used instead, in case you didn’t have enough of an item in stock, the alternate items might have available quantity.

Item Assembly Structures

The Item Assembly Structure tab on the Item Master application is used for creating subassemblies and spare parts for assets, for creating the set of items that make up an item kit, and it can also be used for creating a small location hierarchy. For it to be applied to an asset or location the item must be marked as Rotating and the Rotating Item referenced on the asset or location, the Apply Item Assembly Structure action is then used.

The hierarchy of an Item Assembly Structure can be visually understood if it is restricted to three levels. When you add a fourth level you will need to navigate using the Move To actions on the Belongs To and the Item field in the Children table. There is no drilldown, so you cannot visualise four levels at the same time. I’m not aware of a limitation to the number of levels, but it does become impractical if you attempt a fifth level.

Only the items at the bottom of any node in the hierarchy can be non-rotating items, all items in the hierarchy with children must be marked as a rotating item. There is an action called Copy Item Assembly Structure which allows you to copy the item hierarchy from one item to another. In the Children table there is a Quantity field to indicate how many of the item exist at that point in the hierarchy, for example you might have multiple bearings on a shaft, multiple tyres on an axle. The Remarks field might be used to indicate the position of the item.

There is no Item Assembly Structure on the Tools application. While a Tool can be marked as Rotating and assets created for the tool, you cannot apply an item assembly structure to create a set of child assets for the tool. However, it is possible to create the spare parts of a tool asset by using an Asset TemplateA template for generating and updating similar assets. More.

I hope you enjoyed this podcast and I look forward to seeing you back on the next episode when we will spend time on Item Statuses.

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Until another time, goodbye.