A type is a definition, not a record.
A question such as “Which orders were affected by this supplier?” sounds straightforward. But it assumes a shared meaning for supplier, order and affected. One system may identify a supplier by a vendor number. Another may store a shortened company name. A feedback record may mention a product rather than an order. The useful first step is to make those assumptions visible.
Supplier is an object type. It describes the kind of thing we want to talk about and the properties its records should carry. Supplier A is an instance of that type. Its identifier is different from its display name. Keeping those concepts separate allows the model to describe many suppliers without turning every individual record into a new category.
This is why the Ontomato background map shows Supplier, Product and Order with consistent node styling. A particular order belongs in the result or record inspector. The model and the records answer different questions: what can exist, and what exists in the selected data.
A line needs a meaning.
A graph becomes useful when its connections describe something specific. “Supplier supplies Material batch” is different from an unspecified link between two circles. The relationship also needs a way to resolve actual records, such as matching a batch’s supplier key to a supplier identifier.
Follow that pattern through the sample: a product uses a batch, an order contains a product, and feedback refers to an order. Together, the types and relationships describe a route. The complete connected model is the ontology; it does not need a single oversized node labeled “Ontology” to stand in for it.
Agree on the definition before the total.
Even a correctly connected model does not decide what “affected” means for your team. Does a reported tire issue count, or must the defect be confirmed? Which date defines September: the order date or the batch’s supplied date? Is the measure order value, replacement cost or estimated loss? These are business decisions that should be declared.
The sample deliberately keeps the scope small: September supply dates, tire feedback and each matching order’s amount counted once. Switching from all reports to confirmed defects changes the result while preserving the source records. That makes the definition inspectable rather than hiding it inside the answer.
Begin with one useful question, a handful of object types and a small set of records. If the team can explain each relationship and reproduce the answer, the model has a practical foundation for the next question.
Further reading: W3C OWL 2 Primer. For a formal introduction to classes, properties and individuals. This preview does not claim OWL implementation or compliance.