Item Profiles - the central master record

🌐 NL · Last reviewed: 27 May 2026

Item Profiles — the central master record

The Item Profile is DXSteel's foundational master record describing a product family. Each profile captures the physical and commercial characteristics of one type of steel — a HEA 200 beam, a 2 mm coil, a stainless flat bar. Items and item variants are then created from a profile and inherit its quality, dimension, and weight rules.

Who touches this? Implementation consultants set profiles up once during go-live. Key users add new profiles when you introduce a new steel grade or profile range. End users rarely open this page directly — they see profiles via the Item Card or the Item Wizard.

Where the profile sits in the data model

An item profile connects five master-data streams:

Material — steel family or alloy class (carbon steel, stainless 304, …).
Quality Group — controls which qualities are allowed for this profile.
Default Quality — pre-filled on new items.
Item Type — LEN (length), LWT (length+weight), MIS (miscellaneous), COI (coil).
Item Template — BC standard template the Item Wizard uses for actual item creation.

Setup workflow — adding a new profile

Open Item Profiles via Tell Me (Alt+Q → "Item Profiles").
Click New. An empty profile card opens.
Fill in Code (max. 15 characters). Tip: use a predictable convention, e.g. HEA200, COIL-2MM-S235.
Fill in Description as you want it to appear on quotes and orders.
Choose Item Type Code. For coil products DXSteel automatically sets Variable Weight (Sales/Purchase/Production/Transfer) to Always.
Select Item Template Code matching your standard BC item setup (category, costing method, …).
Fill in the weights: Theoretical Weight and Trade Weight (and optionally German Trade Weight for DIN-compliant deliveries).
Assign a Quality Group Code and a Default Quality.
Fill the default dimensions: Fixed Length, Fixed Width, Fixed Thickness where applicable.
Fill the profile geometry (for beams): Profile Shape, Height, Width, Flange Thickness, Web Thickness, Calculation Factor (m²/m).
Configure cutting and packaging rules: Bundle Size, Minimum Rest Length, Waste Length / Width, Rest Rounding (mm), Rest Rounding Type.
Set tolerances: Extra Receipt % Allowed, Extra Shipment % Allowed, Auto Apply Order Difference % (Sales/Purchase). See Working with DXSteel — Order differences.
Optionally fill up to five Fixed Extra Property 1-5 values; these link to Item Profile Properties configured on the item type.
Save.

Fields that lock later: once the first Item Ledger Entry exists for an item using this profile, the Theoretical Weight, Trade Weight and German Trade Weight fields become read-only (error "An open Item Ledger Entry was found. Weight cannot be edited"). The Item Type Code also locks once an item variant exists ("An item variant was found for this profile. Item type cannot be edited"). Get these values right during go-live, not afterwards.

Field reference — Item Profile

Field	Purpose	Mandatory / locked
Code	Profile identifier, max. 15 chars.	Mandatory, primary key.
Description	Profile name as shown in lists and documents.	—
Description 2	Secondary description (longer product names).	—
Item Type Code	LEN / LWT / MIS / COI. Drives weight and length rules.	Mandatory. Locked once any item variant exists.
Item Template Code	BC standard template for final item creation.	—
Material Code	Reference to Materials master (carbon, stainless 304, …).	—
Theoretical Weight	Base density (kg/m, kg/m², …).	Locked once open Item Ledger Entries exist.
Trade Weight	Commercial density (used for invoicing).	Locked once open Item Ledger Entries exist.
German Trade Weight	DIN-compliant density for German market.	Locked once open Item Ledger Entries exist.
Quality Group Code	Restricts which qualities can be assigned to items using this profile. See Qualities and Quality Groups .	—
Default Quality Code	Pre-filled on new items.	—
Variable Weight (Sales/Purchase/Production/Transfer)	When weight variance is allowed in orders: Never / Always / Dependent.	Coil profiles get Always by default.
Fixed Length / Width / Thickness	Default dimensions pre-filled on variants.	—
Fixed Extra Property 1-5	Profile-level values for up to five free Item Profile Properties.	Only visible if the property is enabled on the item type.
Bundle Size	Default pieces per bundle.	—
Minimum Rest Length	Minimum remainder kept after sawing or cutting; below this is scrap.	—
Waste Length / Width	Fixed waste per cut.	—
Rest Rounding (mm) + Rest Rounding Type	How remainder lengths are rounded (Up / Down / Default).	—
Extra Receipt / Shipment % Allowed	Tolerance above or below the ordered quantity.	—
Auto Apply Order Difference % (Sales/Purchase)	Threshold below which DXSteel auto-resolves order differences.	—
Profile Shape, Height, Width, Flange Thickness, Web Thickness, Calculation Factor	Geometric properties for beams and profiles; used for surface area and weight calculation.	—
Blocked	Prevents further use on new orders.	—
Last Date/Time Modified	Audit trail; auto-maintained.	Read-only.

Item Profiles list — overview of all profiles.
Item Profile Properties + Property Values — the free properties you link to an item type (surface treatment, colour, coating).
Item Profile Translations + Property Value Translations — for multi-language environments.
Item Profile Reference List — links to external identifications (customer codes, mill codes).
Item Profile Processing List — which processing steps (Cut, Saw, Decoil, Subcontracting) apply by default to items in this profile.

Best practices

Code convention: choose a pattern that makes profiles self-documenting — e.g. SHAPE-DIMENSION-MATERIAL (HEA200-S235, FLAT-2X100-S275). Profile lookups on order lines become intuitive.

Theoretical vs trade weight: use Theoretical Weight for production and inventory calculations, Trade Weight for invoicing. The difference is usually industry convention (theoretical = exact per standard; trade = commercially rounded).

Set Minimum Rest Length realistically. Too low → many small remainders nobody buys. Too high → unnecessary scrap on every sawing operation.

Common errors

Message	When and how to fix
"The length of Profile Code (%1) cannot exceed 15 characters."	Profile Code too long. Adjust naming convention.
"An open Item Ledger Entry was found. Weight cannot be edited."	Inventory transactions already exist. Create a new profile, or clear open entries first with your administrator.
"An item variant was found for this profile. Item type cannot be edited."	Delete variants first, or create a new profile for the other item type.
"Quality %1 does not belong to Quality Group %2 set in Item Profile %3"	Item quality is not in the Quality Group on the profile. Change the quality or add it to the group via Qualities and Quality Groups .

[Screenshot: Item Profile card with geometry, weights, and quality group filled in]