In the perspective of this feature, we define as Derivative feed an ingredient available for recipe or composite formulation whose overall values derive from and are dependent on the values of an underlying ingredient called Master feed. In other words, it is a new feed that results from modifying an existing product (Master feed), and which has different nutrient specs and costs than those of the product it is derived from, keeping the same ID codes anyway.
In the RUM&N platforms (NDS Professional, NUTRIMIX, etc.), a feed is identified through its unique user ID code. However, sometimes, there is the need to associate different sets of data (specs and costs) to the same ID code. A typical example is a feed provided by different plants, each of them producing a different version of it, with its own analytical values and a specific cost, with the need to identify and manage all the versions with a single code, that is, that of the master feed. For this purpose, the feature has been developed in order to create one or more derivative feeds from an existing one, referred as master feed, and then change specific analytical values or costs of the derivative, obtaining alternative sets of data.
Each derivative feed is also characterized by a recipient code; in the previous example, this could be the code that identifies the plant where the feed is available and used. This way, the derivative feed can be univocally identified by the ID code of its master and by its recipient code. Each master can have a number of derivative feeds equal to the recipient codes available, and it is possible to have only one derivative feed of a master related to a specific recipient code.
It is possible to see a derivative feed as the union of two sets of data:
1. Data of the master that have not been modified in the derivative feed;
2. Data that have been modified in the derivative feed and are alternative to those of the master.
Consequently, if the first set of data is modified in the master, it automatically changes in the derivative feed too.