The Item Creator, default values and staging decide how new product data enters Perfion. The Item Creator takes the values of selectable features, called dimensions, and creates an item for every combination you keep, as a flat list or grouped under virtual items. Default values fill in the standard values new items need, set once per feature in the configuration. Staging holds a draft version of an item beside the active one, and a compare search shows what changed before it is approved.
Written for product data teams · By Vipin Kumar, Founder and Solution Architect · Last updated BPAS · Exclusive Boyum Practice. India's No.1 Customer-referred Boyum IT Partner.
At a glance
Perfion name
Item Creator, Default Values and Staging
Where
The grid and the configurationItem CreatorDefault ValuesStagingThe Item Creator needs Perfion 4.5.3 or later
Used by
Product editors and administratorsAdministrators set up default values, stages and Dimension Sets
Default values · ShirtsCountry of originIndiaHSN code6205Care textMachine wash cold
An illustration of the Item Creator, not a screenshot: pick the dimensions, keep the combinations you make, and new items start with their default values.
Manual Entry vs Perfion
Manual entry vs Perfion item creation: what changes when items are generated, not typed
Typed one row at a time, every new item is a chance to miss a combination or a standard value. In Perfion, items are generated from the values you pick and start with their defaults.
Typed row by rowItemColourSizeHSNSH-101WhiteM6205SH-102whiteLSH-103WhtXL6203SH-104NavyXXLEvery variant typed by hand. Three spellings of one colour. One tax code wrong, two missing.
vs
Perfion item creationItem Creator6 × 5 × 254 selected54 itemsDefault valuesIndiaHSN 6205Care textStagingActiveDraft2 changedItems generated from pick lists, complete from the first save, and changed in a draft.
Creating new product items by hand, compared with the Perfion Item Creator, default values and staging as described in Boyum IT Solutions' Perfion documentation.
Task
Typed by hand
Perfion Item Creator, defaults and staging
Creating every variant
Each colour, size and fit typed as its own row, and one combination always missed.
The Item Creator creates one item for every combination of the values picked.
Leaving out what is not made
Rows deleted afterwards, if anyone notices them.
Every combination has its own checkbox. Only the selected ones are created.
Grouping variants under a parent
Parent rows built by hand, with shared values copied down to each child.
Virtual items can be created in the same step, with inheritable values set on the parent.
Putting new items in a category
Assigned afterwards, one by one.
Items created from a grid showing a category are assigned that category.
Standard values on new items
Copied from an old row, or typed again every time.
Default values set in the configuration fill in on every new item.
Standard values per product type
A separate template sheet for each category.
With item dependencies, one feature can carry a different default for each category.
Items created by other systems
They arrive with whatever the other system sends.
Items created through the Perfion API get default values too. Items from the Perfion Import tool do not yet.
Preparing changes to live items
A copy of the file, merged back by hand before launch.
Staging keeps a draft beside the active item, and a compare search shows what changed.
See how your next range would be created in Perfion.
Perfion item creation capabilities: eight ways to get new items right the first time
Each capability shows what it does in Perfion and what it is worth to the business.
Operational Reality (Capabilities)
The Item Creator is a quick way to create many new items with very few clicks. It takes the values of selectable features, called dimensions, and creates an item for every combination of them. Pick 5 colours, 3 materials and 4 brands, and it offers 60 items, because 5 × 3 × 4 is 60. Boyum’s documentation states that items created this way are indistinguishable from items created one by one.
A new range of variants is created in minutes, complete, with no combination typed twice or left out.
Hours saved on every range launch
No variant missed or mistyped
Operational Reality (Capabilities)
Before anything is created, the Item Creator lists every combination, each with its own checkbox, and only the selected combinations become items. All of them can be selected or cleared at once, and Perfion asks for confirmation before it creates the items. Dimensions can be reordered or removed. When the Item Creator is opened from a grid showing a category, every new item is assigned that category.
Combinations the business does not make never become items, so nothing has to be found and deleted later.
No unsellable items in channels
New items filed in the right category
Operational Reality (Capabilities)
By default, items are created as a flat list. The Item Creator can also create virtual items for every dimension except the last, chosen from left to right. With 5 colours, 3 materials and 4 brands, grouping by colour and material adds 20 virtual items, 5 for the colours and 15 for the materials under them, above the 60 items. Values of inheritable features are set on the virtual item, so its children inherit them. Values of features that are not inheritable are set on the virtual item and on each child.
The product hierarchy channels show, one style with its colours and sizes beneath it, exists the moment the items do.
No parent items built by hand
Shared values held in one place
Operational Reality (Capabilities)
The Item Creator remembers the last set of dimensions used for each feature, such as Products or Categories, and opens with it next time. To keep several sets, an administrator or super user can add a feature that stores them. Named Dimension Sets are then saved and picked from a list, much like views and filters, and can be organised in a hierarchy and in a custom order.
Each product family is created with the same dimensions every season, so ranges stay consistent from one launch to the next.
Consistent ranges, season after season
Less set-up for every new range
Operational Reality (Capabilities)
Default values apply values to new items automatically. They are set per feature in a configuration and are meant for data that many items share, which saves editors from entering the same value again and again and is less error prone, because the correct value is set for them. They work on Date, Link, Number, String, Text, Table and Boolean features that are explicit, selectable or selectable with multiple values. Localizable features can have a default in each language, and a default can also be a formula. A feature that is copied when an item is copied cannot also take a default value.
Set once per feature in the configuration
Seven data types, including Table and Boolean
A default per language for localizable features
Executive ROI Value
New item · SH-1101Country of origin—IndiaHSN code—6205Care text—Machine wash coldWashable—Yes
Standard values such as country of origin or a tax classification are right from the first save.
Less typing on every new item
Fewer wrong standard values
Operational Reality (Capabilities)
Where a configuration has item dependencies, the same feature can appear more than once, each time with its own default. New items in one category start with one value and new items in another category start with another, from the same configuration. When a feature appears twice at the same level, the default of the first occurrence is used. When it appears at different levels, the deepest default wins.
A different default per category or brand
At the same level, the first occurrence is used
Across levels, the deepest default wins
Executive ROI Value
HSN code · default per categoryCategory: Shirts6205Category: Trousers6203Deepest default wins
One configuration serves every product type, each with the standard values that are right for it.
One model, every product type
No category templates to maintain
Operational Reality (Capabilities)
Default values are not only for items created in the main grid. Items created with the Perfion API are enriched with default values as well, using the defaults that match the item, such as those for its category. Items created with the Perfion Import tool are not enriched with default values; Boyum states that this will be added in a later release.
Items created through the API get defaults
Category-specific defaults applied there too
Not yet for items from the Import tool
Executive ROI Value
New item · default values applied?Created in the gridYesCreated through the Perfion APIYesCreated with the Import toolNot yet
Items that arrive from another system through the API carry the same standard values as items created in Perfion.
One standard, whichever route an item takes
A known gap, planned for
Operational Reality (Capabilities)
In most implementations each item exists once in Perfion. Staging adds a dimension to items, so the same item can exist in several stages, such as a draft and an active version. The stages are the values of one selectable feature named Stage, and every categorizer gets a stage quick filter. A compare search compares items with the same key, such as the item number, in two stages: those that differ, those that are the same, those in both stages, or those in only one. The same comparison is available in standard API searches.
Draft and active versions of the same item
A quick filter for each stage on every categorizer
Changed, same, new or missing, between two stages
Executive ROI Value
Stage: ActiveStage: DraftCompare search · Draft vs ActiveItemDraftActiveResultSH-1042Cotton linenCotton!= changedSH-1050Linen—NOT IN · newSH-1043CottonCotton= same
Imported data and next season’s range are prepared and checked without touching the items that are live.
Live data stays live while work goes on
Every change seen before approval
Core Concepts
5 Core Concepts of Creating Items Right the First Time
The first three are about creating items. The fourth is about starting them complete. The last is about changing them safely.
01
Creating itemsConcept 01 · Describe the range, and let the items follow
Think in Combinations, Not Rows
The product data problem it solves
Merchandisers type every variant as its own row. Six colours, five sizes and two fits make 60 rows for one shirt style, and one of them is always missed or mistyped.
The concept explained
A range of variants is not 60 separate facts. It is three short lists, colours, sizes and fits, and every combination of them. Described that way, the range is easy to check and impossible to half-type. The Item Creator works exactly like this: you pick the values of each dimension, and it creates one item for every combination. Because the values come from pick lists, every item uses the same spelling of the same colour.
Everyday analogy
A car configurator. Choose the colour, the engine and the trim, and every variant follows from the choices. Nobody writes out each car.
In Perfion
The Item Creator creates items for all combinations of the values selected in its dimensions. Dimensions are selectable features, whose values are managed in Feature Data. Items created this way are indistinguishable from items created normally.
Swipe sideways to see the full diagram6 colours, 5 sizes and 2 fits: 60 combinations, one item each.
02
Creating itemsConcept 02 · Decide before the items exist
Create Only What Exists
The product data problem it solves
Bulk creation that makes every combination also makes the ones the business does not sell, such as a slim fit in XXL, and they reach the web shop as items nobody can order.
The concept explained
Not every combination is a real product. A fit may not be cut in the largest size, or a colour may be made only in some sizes. Deciding which combinations exist is a product decision, and it is cheapest to make before the items are created, not after they have spread to channels. The Item Creator lists every combination first, each with its own checkbox, and only the selected ones become items. Opened from a grid showing a category, it files every new item in that category too.
Everyday analogy
Ticking a restaurant order before it goes to the kitchen. The menu offers every combination; the order lists only what the table will eat.
In Perfion
Combinations can be selected or cleared one by one or all at once, Perfion asks for confirmation before creating the items, and items created from a grid showing a category are assigned that category.
Swipe sideways to see the full diagram60 combinations listed, 6 cleared, 54 items created in the Shirts category.
03
Creating itemsConcept 03 · Parents and children, created together
Build the Family, Not Just the Items
The product data problem it solves
Variants are created as one long flat list, and someone then builds the parent products by hand and copies the colour onto every child.
The concept explained
Channels often show one style with its variants beneath it: each colour, and each size within that colour. The Item Creator can build that hierarchy in the same step, by creating virtual items for every dimension except the last. A value of an inheritable feature, such as the colour, is then set once on the virtual item and passed to its children, so it is held in one place. Features that are not inheritable get the value on the virtual item and on every child.
Everyday analogy
Folders on a computer: one folder for each colour, a folder for each fit inside it, and the files for each size inside that.
In Perfion
Virtual items can be created for each dimension except the last, from left to right. Inheritable values are assigned at the virtual level; values of features that are not inheritable are assigned on the virtual item and on its children.
Swipe sideways to see the full diagramColour and fit become virtual items. The colour is set once and inherited by every size below it.
04
Starting completeConcept 04 · Standard values without typing
New Items Start Complete
The product data problem it solves
Every new item starts empty, so the same tax classification, country of origin and care text are typed hundreds of times, and some are typed wrong.
The concept explained
Many values are the same for whole groups of products. Typing them again on every new item wastes time and invites mistakes that are hard to see. Default values solve this: each is set once, per feature, in the configuration, and filled in on every new item. With item dependencies, each product type can start with its own value, and when a feature appears at several levels the deepest default wins. Items created through the Perfion API get the same treatment.
Everyday analogy
A pre-printed invoice book. The company name, address and GSTIN are already on every page; you write only what changes.
In Perfion
Default values are set at feature level in a configuration, for Date, Link, Number, String, Text, Table and Boolean features. They are applied to new items created in the grid and through the Perfion API, but not yet to items created with the Perfion Import tool.
Swipe sideways to see the full diagramA new shirt starts with India, the care text and HSN 6205. A new pair of trousers starts with HSN 6203.
05
Changing safelyConcept 05 · Work in progress, kept apart from what is live
Prepare the Draft Beside the Live Item
The product data problem it solves
Next season’s changes are typed straight into live items, so channels show half-finished data, or they are prepared in a copy of the file and merged back by hand.
The concept explained
Some changes take weeks to prepare: a new version of a whole product series, or a large import from a supplier. Made on live items, they show before they are ready. Made in a copy, they have to be merged back, and something is always lost. Staging lets the same item exist in two stages, a draft and an active version, side by side in Perfion. A compare search then lists what is different between them, what is new, and what is missing, before anyone approves the change.
Everyday analogy
A newspaper page proof. Tomorrow’s edition is laid out and checked while today’s paper is on the stands.
In Perfion
Staging uses one selectable feature named Stage, whose values are the stages. Every categorizer gets a quick filter for each stage. Compare searches, also available in standard API searches, compare two stages by a key feature such as the item number.
Values that every variant under a parent shares, such as the colour of a colour group, are on inheritable features, so they are held once on the virtual item.
Risk if ignored
Values that are not inheritable are set on the parent and on every child, so a later correction has to be made in many places.
Get it right with BPAS
Not sure this is in place for your team? Talk to a BPAS consultant.
Values most new items share, such as country of origin or tax classification, have a default value in the configuration, set per product type where they differ.
Risk if ignored
Typed by hand, a standard value is entered hundreds of times, and the wrong ones are found in a return, an audit or a tax query.
Get it right with BPAS
Not sure this is in place for your team? Talk to a BPAS consultant.
The team knows that items created in the grid and through the Perfion API get default values, while items created with the Perfion Import tool do not yet, and covers that gap.
Risk if ignored
Imported items arrive without the standard values everyone assumes they have, and the gap shows up first in a channel.
Get it right with BPAS
Not sure this is in place for your team? Talk to a BPAS consultant.
Illustrative scenario · not a client case studyA Business Like Yours
Illustrative scenario: an Indian menswear brand, with every variant typed by hand
A menswear brand sells shirts, trousers and knitwear through its own stores, a web shop and two marketplaces, and launches two new ranges a year, each with hundreds of new variants. Orders, stock and invoicing are in the ERP. Product data is kept in spreadsheets.
The Operational Challenge
Merchandisers type every new variant as its own row: six colours, five sizes and two fits make 60 rows for one shirt style. The HSN code, country of origin and care text are copied from older rows, and next season’s range is prepared in a copy of the sheet and merged back the week before launch.
Last season, 180 shirts went live with the trouser HSN code, and a slim fit in XXL that the brand does not make appeared on the web shop.
Every variant typed by hand, row by row
Standard values copied, and copied wrong
Combinations listed that the brand does not make
Next season merged back from a copy at the last minute
The Financial Transformation
In Perfion, each shirt style is created with the Item Creator from a saved Dimension Set: the combinations the brand does not make are cleared, and the rest are created in their category, grouped under virtual items by colour and fit.
Default values give every new shirt its country of origin, care text and HSN code, with a different code for trousers. Next season’s range is prepared in a draft stage, and a compare search lists every change before it is approved.
A shirt style created in one step
Standard values right from the first save
Only combinations the brand makes
Next season prepared beside the live range
Illustrative figures for a typical Indian menswear brand of this size. They add up, but they are not a client case study.
Cost line
Before (per month)
After (per month)
Difference (per year)
Merchandiser time creating and keying new variants
₹ 1,20,000
₹ 30,000
₹ 10,80,000
Corrections to wrong or missing standard values
₹ 60,000
₹ 15,000
₹ 5,40,000
Launch rework when a new range goes live
₹ 80,000
₹ 30,000
₹ 6,00,000
Total
₹ 2,60,000
₹ 75,000
₹ 22,20,000
Illustrative saving a year₹ 22,20,000Same figures as the table, not a client result
prodRecord Live is a monthly webinar series on product information management, held on the second Wednesday of every month from January 2027. Each session takes one product data topic and works through it in plain English with time for your questions.
Who benefits from better item creation: one range, three answers
One range
Promoter & CXOs
How fast can a new range go live?
Variants are created in one step and start with their standard values, so a range is ready for channels sooner, and next season is prepared without disturbing this one.
Product Data Manager
Will every new item start with the right values?
Default values set per product type fill in standard values on new items, and a compare search shows every change in a draft before it is approved.
Merchandiser
How do I create 60 variants without 60 rows of typing?
Pick the colours, sizes and fits in the Item Creator, clear the combinations you do not make, and create the rest in one step.
Vocabulary
Item Creation Vocabulary and Definitions
From the tool that combines values into items, to the stages that keep a draft apart from what is live. Each term shows what it means, why it matters, and a household comparison.
01
Item Creator
Creating items · in bulk
One item per combination
Operational definition
A tool that creates many new items using very few clicks, one for every combination of the values selected in its dimensions.
Why it matters in Perfion
Combinations can be selected or cleared before creation, and the items created are indistinguishable from items created normally.
Everyday analogy
A car configurator: the choices define every variant, so nobody writes out each car.
A value set per feature in a configuration and filled in automatically on new items, so the same value is not typed again and again.
Why it matters in Perfion
Supported for Date, Link, Number, String, Text, Table and Boolean features. Applied to items created in the grid and through the Perfion API, not yet through the Perfion Import tool.
Everyday analogy
A pre-printed invoice book, with the company details already on every page.
A Perfion function that adds a dimension to items, so the same item can exist in several stages, such as a draft and an active version.
Why it matters in Perfion
Used to hold imported data as a draft for approval, to keep different status codes for one item, or to prepare a new product series in parallel to the active one.
Everyday analogy
A newspaper page proof, checked while today’s edition is on the stands.
A favourite search that compares items with the same key, typically the item number, in two stages, and finds those that differ, match, or exist in only one.
Why it matters in Perfion
Only two stages are compared at a time. The features compared can be chosen; if none are, all features except the stage are compared.
Everyday analogy
Holding the old and new price lists side by side and marking every line that changed.
Item Creator and default values: questions product teams ask
Short answers, each with a link to the part of this guide that explains it.
It creates many new items at once, one for each combination of the values you pick in selectable features such as colour and size. Five colours, three materials and four brands give 60 items.
No. Boyum’s documentation states that items created by the Item Creator are indistinguishable from items created normally. They can also be created under virtual items in the same step.
Items created in the grid and items created through the Perfion API get the default values set in their configuration. Items created with the Perfion Import tool do not get default values yet; Boyum states this will be added in a later release.
Yes. With item dependencies, the same feature can appear more than once in a configuration, each time with its own default. At different levels the deepest default is used; at the same level, the first.
Yes, with Staging. The same item can exist in several stages, such as a draft and an active version, and compare searches find the items that differ between two stages or exist in only one.
Yes. The Item Creator, default values and staging are part of Perfion itself, so this guide applies whichever ERP your product data comes from. What changes from one ERP to another is the integration that brings ERP data into Perfion.
See your own variants created in one step, completed with default values and prepared in a draft beside the live range. Choose the path that fits the ERP you run.