US 11,989,692 B2
Revision control for product master data in product lifecycle management
Stephan Toebben, Walldorf (DE)
Assigned to SAP SE, Walldorf (DE)
Filed by SAP SE, Walldorf (DE)
Filed on Oct. 8, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/497,215.
Prior Publication US 2023/0111877 A1, Apr. 13, 2023
Int. Cl. G06Q 10/0875 (2023.01); G06Q 10/10 (2023.01)
CPC G06Q 10/0875 (2013.01) [G06Q 10/10 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method, performed by one or more computing devices, for performing revision control for product masters within a product lifecycle management system, the method comprising:
receiving a product master, comprising master data representing a product, wherein the product master is identified by a unique product identifier;
receiving a definition of a minor revision for the product master, wherein the minor revision is associated with a unique minor revision identifier, and wherein the definition of the minor revision comprises:
one or more revision attributes that are specific to the minor revision;
one or more document objects that are specific to the minor revision;
an indication of a bill of material (BOM) version that is specific to the minor revision; and
a baseline that comprises baseline assignment information, wherein the baseline assignment information indicates minor revision information for one or more BOM components of the BOM version;
storing the definition of the minor revision in association with the product master in a database system, wherein the baseline is stored separately from the BOM version; and
after releasing a product revision for the product master that includes the minor revision, generating a read-only record of the definition of the minor revision, wherein generating the read-only record comprises expanding the product master, comprising:
for each product level of a product hierarchy beginning with the product master, outputting indications of BOM components, and their associated minor revisions, at the product level using baselines associated with the BOM components at the product level;
wherein the product master supports multiple minor revisions within the product lifecycle management system, wherein the minor revision is a first minor revision and the BOM version is a first BOM version, the method further comprising:
creating a second minor revision for the product master, wherein the second minor revision is partly defined by a second BOM version different from the first BOM version; and
updating the baseline assignment information of the baseline to indicate minor revision information for one or more BOM components of the second BOM version, wherein the updating does not change the first BOM version.