Working Group meeting 16/05/2023

Date: 16/05/2023
Participants: Natalie Muric, Pietro Palermo, Peter Borresen, Thomas Pettersson.
Model editor: Andreea Pasăre
Note editor: Jana Ahmad

Agenda

Harmonization of modules for eCatalogue, eFulfilment, and eOrdering Modules

  • Charge Information - Item Level or Line Level?

  • Item and Batch IDs

  • Organisation and Person Certificates

  • Remodelling epo-ord:DeliveryTerm

Discussion

The working group began by reviewing previous agreements related to eCatalogue, eOrdering, and eFulfilment modules reached in meetings held on April 25, 27, and May 3, 2023.The participants confirmed their consensus on the proposed changes.

  • Removal of epo-cat:hasExternalSpecification property in the epo-cat:item in Catalogue module

  • Standardised namespace prefix for ePO Model (Note: in the text and diagrams in this report the standardised namespace of epo: has not been used as the standardized namespace is to implemented with all other changes.)

  • Renaming epo-cat:ItemDescription to epo:ItemProperty.

  • Replacing epo-ful:hasBaseAmount property with epo:isCalculatedOn in epo-ord:AllowanceChargeInformation and epo-ord:TaxInformation . Replace epo-cat:specifiesItem relationship between epo:Deliverable and epo-cat:Item by inheritance of epo-cat:Item by epo:Deliverable.

  • epo:Contractor and epo-ord:Seller are the same concepts in a Public Procurement.

  • epo-ord:AllowanceChargeInformation will have 3 subclasses: epo-ord:AllowanceInformation, epo-ord:ChargeInformation, and epo-ord:PriceDiscountInformation, because epo-ord:AllowanceChargeInformation is an epo-cat:InformationHub, and it is directly connected to the Line and Document.

  • The VAT rate value will be modeled through epo-ord:TaxInformation epo-cat:hasPercentage and epo-ord:TaxInformation epo-cat:hasTaxCategory. The working group then continued to discuss the points that were seen as contentious previously:

Charge Information - Item Level or Line Level?

During the discussion, participants debated whether the Charge Information should be at the Item level or Line level. To illustrate the point an example of countries where certain charges are associated with food items containing sugar. For instance, if an item is priced at 1 euro, the actual amount paid might be 1.7 euros due to the sugar charge. This charge is applied at the price level.
One suggestion put forward was to have the price at the item level, establishing a direct association between the item and its price. However, after further deliberation, the decision was made to maintain the price at the line level while establishing a reference between the line and the item.

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In PEPPOL the price is specified based on the location, and the order reflects the price based on quantities. There are two types of discounts: line-level discounts and price-level discounts. Line-level discounts can be defined as a specific amount per line, such as a discount of 100 euros per line. Price-level discounts, on the other hand, are expressed as a certain amount per unit, such as cents per orange.
As a result of the discussion, it was decided to remove the epo-ord:PriceDiscountInformation element and introduce new associations for enhanced clarity and consistency. The new associations are epo-ord:hasPriceDiscountInformation between epo-cat:Price and epo-ord:isSpecificToOrderLine, as well epo:hasPriceSurchargeInformation between epo-cat:Price and epo-cat:ChargeInformation.

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Modeling of Item and Batch IDs

The participants agreed to replace the relation adms:identifier with epo:hasBatchID to improv clarity and consistency. The epo: hasCatalogueItemID is replaced by epo:hasSellerItemID
As part of the discussion, it was agreed to add definitions for all epo:Item and epo:Batch IDs:

  • epo:hasManufacturerItemID: The general identifier assigned to the concept as defined by the manufacturer.

  • epo:hasBuyerItemID: The general identifier assigned to the concept as defined by the Buyer.

  • epo:hasBatchID: The identifier assigned to a specific batch of the produced Item.

  • epo:hasSellerItemID: The general identifier for the concept as defined by the seller.

  • epo:hasSerialID: The identifier assigned to the specific instance of the produced concept.

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To illustrate these concepts, an example was discussed: when purchasing a new mobile phone, the seller ID and the manufacturer ID may differ, but a generic buyer ID would be used.
Organisation and Person Certificates
It was agreed upon by the participants to introduce the epo:hasCertification relation between epo:Certificate and epo:Organization, epo:Person, and epo:Item. This new relation allows for the association of certifications with these entities.
Furthermore, the definitions for the following concepts were updated as follows:

  • epo:Certifier: A Role of an Agent that issues a Certificate.

  • epo:Certificate: Proof of conformance of the instance of the concept to a defined set of criteria, ensuring credibility, trust and transparency.

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Remodelling epo-ord:DeliveryTerm

During the working group meeting, it was agreed by the participants to rename the entity epo-ord:DeliveryTerm to epo-ord:DeliveryAgreement. By changing the name of the concept there is no conflict with the Term hierarchy of the ontology and the original modelling can be reused. The update was made directly in the meeting.
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Revising Definitions

The participants revised the definitions with respect to the concepts that were discussed during the meeting.

  • epo-ord:DeliveryAgreement: Term applying to the delivery of goods, services and works. Additional Information: Delivery terms identifier can normally be Incoterms accompanied by the description of specific conditions related to the delivery.

  • epo-cat:InformationHub: Grouping of data that may be associated to various concepts. Additional Information: For example, AllowanceChargeInformation may be associated to the Order or the Catalogue (either at the Line level or at the Document level), amongst others.

  • epo-cat:ChargeInformation: Information about tax, fee or duty imposed. Additional Information: Charge category indicates the nature of the tax/duty/fee, for example VAT, CAR, etc. Charge category modifier may be used in case different levels, exemptions or other modifications apply. The charge can be fixed or relative to the price.

  • epo-ord:AllowanceChargeInformation: Information about discounts, taxes, duties and fees imposed.

  • epo-ord:AllowanceInformation: Information about the discounts imposed.

Action Points:

  • Remove epo-ord:PriceDiscountInformation and introduce new associations:

  • epo-cat:Price epo-ord:hasPriceDiscountInformation epo-ord:isSpecificToOrderLine

  • epo-cat:Price epo:hasPriceSurchargeInformation epo-cat:ChargeInformation.

  • Update definitions for all epo:Item and epo:Batch IDs

  • Organisation and Person Certificates:

  • Update the definition of epo:Certifier and epo:Certificate.

  • Introduce new associations:

  • epo:Person epo:hasCertification epo:Certificate

  • org:Organization epo:hasCertification epo:Certificate

  • epo:Item epo:hasCertification epo:Certificate