---
alias: user-guide-product-index
description: "A Product defines material characteristics, manages workflows, and integrates with system contexts"
---
# Product
:lock: Product.**Show**
## Overview
A **Product** represents a set of desired characteristics of **Material**. At all times a **Material** must have an associated **Product**.
A **Product** has a default start Flow Path defined (**Flow, Step** and position of the **Step** within the **Flow**) where the **Material** will be placed when it is first created.
A **Product** can be enabled or disabled. A disabled **Product** prevents any material from being assigned to that Product - be it from **Material** creation, **Material** product change or any other reason. In case the **Material** already exists of a disabled **Product**, it can continue to be processed normally.
A **Product** can define unit conversion factors. If a **Step** is defined with set units and a **Material** moves to it, a unit conversion takes place. The conversion factor can be used in both directions (e.g. from Wafers-to-Dies and Dies-to-Wafers), but the system will look first for the main direction. Only if it is not found will it look for the reverse direction using the inverse factor. For more information about the application of unit conversion factors, please refer to the section [Material Quantity Unit Changes](../material/material_quantity_unit_changes.md).
A **Product** can refer to a **Product Group** and, when it does, it automatically inherits all the **Product Group** parameters. A **Product** can also have its own parameters and override the parameters from its **Product Group**.
## Global and Versioned Data
A **Product**, being a change controlled object, contains global and versioned data components, as shown in the following image:
```mermaid
graph TD
subgraph Product
Main1["Global Data
(Without Change Control)"] --- A1[Is Enabled
Is Blocked
Product Unit Conversion Factors
Product SubProducts Tree
Product Binning Tree
Product Group]
Main2["Versioned Data
(With Change Control)"] --- A2[All other]
end
classDef mermaid_title color:#000, fill:#fafafa, stroke:#fafafa, stroke-width:0x, font-size:100%, font-weight:200;
classDef mermaid_start color:#000, fill:#fafafa, stroke:#fafafa, color:#fafafa, stroke-width:0x, font-size:100%, visibility: hidden;
classDef mermaid_businessdata color:#000, fill:#65CDE8, stroke:#65CDE8, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_nonbusinessdata color:#000, fill:#B7DEE8, stroke:#B7DEE8, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_entity color:#000, fill:#FB9F53, stroke:#FB9F53, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_entitylinked color:#000, fill:#FCD5B5, stroke:#FCD5B5, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_context color:#000, fill:#B9CDE5, stroke:#B9CDE5, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_optional color:#000, fill:#B7DEE8, stroke:#65CDE8, stroke-width:1px, font-size:100%, stroke-dasharray: 5 5;
classDef mermaid_state color:#000, fill:#d7e4bd, stroke:#000, stroke-width:1px, font-size:100%, font-weight:300;
class Main1,Main2 mermaid_entity
class A1,A2 mermaid_entitylinked
```
A **Product** is also an optional element in several context resolution tables:
* [BOMContext](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/bomcontext.md)
* [MaterialChecklistContext](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/materialchecklistcontext.md)
* [MaterialDataCollectionContext](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/materialdatacollectioncontext.md)
* [MaterialDocumentContext](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/materialdocumentcontext.md)
* [MaterialDurablesContext](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/materialdurablescontext.md)
* [MaterialPrintableDocumentContext](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/materialprintabledocumentcontext.md)
* [RecipeContext](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/recipecontext.md)
* [RecipeParameterOverrideContext](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/recipeparameteroverridecontext.md)
* [ResourceProcessTime](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/resourceprocesstime.md)
* [ServiceContext](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/servicecontext.md)
* [StepChartContext](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/stepchartcontext.md)
* [StepCertificationRequirementsContext](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/stepcertificationrequirementscontext.md)
* [StepProductYieldAndCycleTimeContext](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/stepproductyieldandcycletimecontext.md)
* [StepSamplingPatternContext](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/stepsamplingpatterncontext.md)
* [StepSplitTrackOutContext](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/stepsplittrackoutcontext.md)
* [TimeConstraintsContext](../../administration/tables/smart-tables/timeconstraintscontext.md)
## Tying Everything Together
```mermaid
graph LR
A1[Flow] -.- Main[Product]
A2[Product Group] --- Main
A3[Material] --- Main
Main === L1[Product Parameter]
Main === L2[Product Binning Tree]
Main === L3[Product SubProducts Tree]
Main === L4[Product Units of Conversion Factors]
classDef mermaid_title color:#000, fill:#fafafa, stroke:#fafafa, stroke-width:0x, font-size:100%, font-weight:200;
classDef mermaid_start color:#000, fill:#fafafa, stroke:#fafafa, color:#fafafa, stroke-width:0x, font-size:100%, visibility: hidden;
classDef mermaid_businessdata color:#000, fill:#65CDE8, stroke:#65CDE8, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_nonbusinessdata color:#000, fill:#B7DEE8, stroke:#B7DEE8, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_entity color:#000, fill:#FB9F53, stroke:#FB9F53, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_entitylinked color:#000, fill:#FCD5B5, stroke:#FCD5B5, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_context color:#000, fill:#B9CDE5, stroke:#B9CDE5, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_optional color:#000, fill:#B7DEE8, stroke:#65CDE8, stroke-width:1px, font-size:100%, stroke-dasharray: 5 5;
class Main mermaid_entity
class A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,A6,A7,A8,A9,A10 mermaid_businessdata
class L1,L2,L3,L4,L5,L6 mermaid_entitylinked
class C1,C2,C3,C4,C5,C6 mermaid_context
class N1,N2,N3,N4,N5,N6 mermaid_nonbusinessdata
click Main "../../business-data/product"
click A1 "../../business-data/flow"
click A2 "../../business-data/product-group"
click A3 "../../business-data/material"
click L1 "../../business-data/parameter"
```
## Sequence Of Steps
The necessary steps for correctly using a **Product** are the following:
1. Optionally, create a **Flow** (be sure to have created all the necessary **Flows** and **Steps** upfront) in order to set a default Flow Path for the **Product**.
2. Optionally, create a **Product Group**.
3. Create a **Product** - note that it is necessary to associate the Product Version to a **Change Set**.
4. Approve the **Change Set**, which contains the Product Version that has been created.
!!! note
For convenience, the **Product** can be configured to use implicit **Change Sets**. Please refer to the [Change Set](../change-set/index.md) section for more information.
!!! info
For more information, see the [New Product Introduction (NPI)](../../../tutorials/modules/new-product-introduction/npi.md) tutorial.
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