A Product Template in OriginsNext is the catalogue definition of a product, also called a SKU or Material. It defines a standardised set of attributes that describe a generic product, and every individual product record created under that template shares the same core characteristics. This keeps traceability consistent and scalable across your supply chain.
Why use a Product Template?
A Product Template groups similar products by shared features so the data is consistent and understandable by other participants in your ecosystem. Shared features include:
Product variety or grade
Packaging type (for example bag, crate, container)
Brand name
Who owns a Product Template and who can see it
Each Product Template is owned by one Organisation and carries a Visibility flag set to Private or Public. The owner and the Visibility flag together decide who can see the template in the catalogue.
Visibility | Who can see the template |
Private | Only the owning Organisation. |
Public | Other Organisations as well as the owner. Depending on the screen, this is either everyone on the platform or only Organisations in your Ecosystem (that is, public templates owned by parties you have a relationship with). |
In the Product Templates list, the Our product templates tab shows the templates your Organisation owns, and the Ecosystem product templates tab shows public templates you can see across your Ecosystem. Catalogue lists default to showing your own templates plus public ones; a filter can narrow this to only your own.
Important: There is no "share this template with Organisation X" option for the template itself. Cross-organisation visibility of a template is achieved purely through the Public flag, not through a per-recipient grant. Any Organisation that can see a template can reference and use it.
Only the owner can edit, archive or change images
Only the Organisation that owns a Product Template can edit it, archive it, or manage its images. Other Organisations that can see a public template may reference and use it, but they cannot change it.
Note: Brand Owner and Manufacturer are descriptive fields that record who those parties are. They do not grant any view or edit rights on the template by themselves.
Product varieties, Species and Genus
A Product Template can represent a product variety. For biological products, such as animals or plants, a variety can be linked to a Species, Genus and Family, which are shared reference records managed centrally. This builds a hierarchy: a Family contains genera, a Genus contains species, and your varieties link to a Species. Linking a variety to a Species lets shared information, such as the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) appendix, flow automatically to your variety and to the individual products created from it. On a Product Template these appear in a Biological Classification section.
For more on this classification, see What is the CITES appendix in OriginsNext? and How do I create and edit Species and Genus records?
Unique Product Template identifiers
Each Product Template must include a unique identifier to distinguish it within the OriginsNext Product Template Registry. This can be:
A Stock Keeping Unit (SKU)
A GS1 Global Trade Item Number (GTIN)
A Universal Product Code (UPC)
Other industry IDs
Note: Identifiers are important for matching incoming data from other participants, system integrations and external platforms.
How to view your Product Templates
From the side menu, go to Ecosystem Registries > Product Templates.
The Product Templates list shows the templates associated with your Organisation under the Our product templates tab.
For how to search, filter and edit your templates, see How do I view, search and edit my Product Templates?