Product Model

Open a Product Model, Drill into a Model, View Mattermaps of Model, Analyze Model

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Written by Alex Inglis
Updated over a week ago

Introduction

The Product model, gives a general overview about the product, the assemblies or manufacturing processes and the materials, parts, energies,... needed for the production.
We are not only using it purely for visualizing the material streams, but we also show health, cost and environmental information throughout the supply chain.

The Product Model is by default visualized in form of a Sankey diagram. Meaning the thickness of the blue connections between (green) products and yellow "process/assembly processes" are showing relative thickness to each other.
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This means, that the thicker a blue connection is the more mass, volume, length, energy or number of pieces is used at that position in the process. We have implemented one specialty into the diagram. We are showing at the same time mass, energy, number of pieces, volume and length. The relative thickness can only be shown within one unit group. So, mass is scaled with other masses, number of pieces are scaled with the number of pieces and so on.

More information to Sankey diagrams can be found here: Sankey diagram .

Overview

The Product Model app can be accessed from the Makersite Dashboard by using the Search Bar at the top of the screen to open a Product dataset, once the 'Product Datasheet' page is open, you can then click on the App Drop-Down and select the 'Product Model' app from within the 'Business' heading.

In the tool bar, above the Sankey diagram, the different view options can be found, 'Sankey' is the default, there is also 'Choropleth', 'Heatmap', and 'Grid'.

To Drill Into a Material, Substance, Process or Component on the Product Model Sankey diagram, you can simply right click on the vertical bar that you are interested in and select 'Drill In'.

Drilling In will take you down a level in your Product, and show a new Sankey diagram of that level. You can then 'Drill In' further from this level.

To return to a previous level, or to reset the Sankey diagram to the top level at anytime, you can select your Product's name from the level indicator, this is located in the top left corner of the Sankey page, directly below the App Drop Down (Product Model).

Step 1

For this example we will open the 'Ball Pen' Product Group.

Type 'Ball Pen' into the Search Bar in the top left corner of the Makersite Dashboard and select the 'Ball Pen Product Group from the list. For more information on how to use the Makersite Search Bar please see the Search Bar Functionality article on the Makersite FAQ pages.

This will then open the 'Product Datasheet' page for the Ball Pen.

To switch to the Product Model app, click on the App Drop-Down in the top left corner, just below the Search Bar (it will currently show the 'Product Datasheet'), and select the 'Product Model' app from the grid. For more information on how to switch apps in Makersite please see the Switch Between Makersite Apps article on the Makersite FAQ pages.

Step 2

Once the 'Product Model' app is open, the main view will show the top level Sankey diagram for the Ball Pen.

The different views available in the Product Model app are shown in the toolbar above the Sankey diagram.

To the right of the Sankey is the 'Information and Tool Panel', when selecting an item on the Sankey diagram the tool panel will populate with all of the available options, giving you quick access to more details of the product or process, finding suppliers or viewing or editing of the Product Datasheet.

The Sankey diagram may need to be rearranged for better clarity, this can be done by using the mouse scroll wheel or touchpad to zoom the Sankey diagram in or out, and then clicking on any of the colored bars to drag them to a new position on the screen.

If the Information and Tool Panel is not visible, it can be opened by selecting the icon shown below located to the right of the page.

Step 3

To 'Drill In' to a specific Material, Substance, Process or Component, simply right click on the colored bar of the item on the Sankey diagram you wish to drill into, and select 'Drill In' from the pop-up menu.

This can also be done by selecting the bar in the Sankey by left clicking on it and then selecting 'View Product Model' from the Tool Panel on the right of the page.

Once 'Drill In' has been selected, a new Sankey diagram will load representing the new level. In the top left corner of the Sankey diagram there is an indicator that shows which level you are currently on, and gives the option to go 'Back To Default Layout' at anytime. Selecting this will reset the Sankey diagram to the top most level of the model, for this example this would be the Ball Pen assembly.

Step 4

With the Product Model app open, you can now switch between the different views within the app. These are located in the toolbar above the main view on the page. The alternative views include the default 'Sankey', 'Choropleth', 'Heatmap' and 'Grid'.

Choropleth:

This is a map view that pinpoints exact measurements or regulations that apply within political borders. It provides an easy way to visualize how a measurement, such as an environmental impact, varies across geographic boundaries.

There must be supplier data in the Makersite model for these results to populate.

Heatmap:

This is a density visualization that represents the density of points on a map.
It displays more diffused or rationalized data, transgressing geographic boundaries.

There must be supplier data in the Makersite model for these results to populate.

Grid:

This view shows the Product Group's structure in the form of a collapsible list, each line of the model can be expanded to show the next level down, much like the 'Drill In' function in the Sankey view. The structure follows the imported BOM structure. So if you click on the the small arrow to the left of the name of an item you would like to expand, the next level down will appear beneath.

The table view also shows calculated environmental, health or cost results or provides a detailed insight into the regulations related the processes or products in the supply chain.
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All info can be exported to excel with a simple right click.

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