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FOCUS AREAS: MASTER
DATA MANAGEMENT
MASTER DATA ISSUES FACING COMPANIES IN ALL INDUSTRIES
At the heart
of any business is its’ data, and key business decisions are made based
on the analysis of this data. Incomplete or inaccurate master data can lead
to poor business decisions that could prove to be very costly to a
company. Departmental silos create and perpetuate their own versions of
master data. Master data that is stored in multiple, disparate databases
is notoriously inaccurate. Most companies realize that it is common for
master data to differ between systems (e.g. dimension data between ERP
and WMS). Duplicate data can cause a swath of issues across the supply
chain through over-ordering of products, pricing inconsistencies, lost
supplier leverage, lost partner collaboration opportunities, etc.
Furthermore, inaccurate data often produces results that must be
analyzed and corrected manually by company resources, thus wasting man
hours. Though it is difficult to assess the cost of inaccurate master
data, SAP estimates that it leads to $30+ billion in additional costs on
supply chains. The value proposition to companies, for implementing the
SAP Master Data Management tool (MDM), increases dramatically as the
number of systems exchanging data increases. The fact of the matter is
that the quality of master data has a direct impact on how well the
supply chain functions and scattered data can lead to a scattered supply
chain.
HOW
SAP SOFTWARE CAN HELP
The Master
Data Management tool is both robust and scaleable as it operates off of
the SAP NetWeaver platform. The tool is relatively easy to install as
SAP provides both pre-packaged data models for several types of master
data, and pre-defined integration maps for SAP modular components. It
also provides an intuitive and highly efficient user interface, which
helps to minimize training costs. However, one of the most significant
benefits is that the tool will integrate with any system, allowing
companies to consolidate master data in several disparate systems into
one central repository.
MDM brings
great performance in the extraction of data and makes the management of
content quite easy (including attached files such as images and PDF
files). It allows you to import and rationalize data from any source
through its Import Manager. Data can come in different formats and can
be normalized through facilities in the Import Manager. MDM’s Data
Manager will allow you to quickly identify duplicate master data and
easily merge the records. It also provides quick comparisons of records
and highlights different or missing data. The standard workflow
functionality can distribute work among users and provide an approval
step before updates are made. The MDM Syndicator provides the capability
to export only new or modified records. MDM provides portal-based access
for all functions which allows for personalization or searches and
views. MDM provides comprehensive multi-lingual capabilities through its
Language Selector.
Clean master
data leads to wise business decisions and consolidated master data
insures that everyone is on the same page.
WHY
DICKINSON + ASSOCIATES
An effective
implementation of MDM through Dickinson + Associates will help you:
reduce procurement spend costs, increase customer insight, enhance your
ability to collaborate with your business partners, and reduce
integration costs throughout your system landscape. Dickinson +
Associates will help guide you through the process towards continuous
improvement of your master data from; consolidation, where we ensure that
the master data is consistent across all of your systems; through
harmonization, where we cleanse the data and distribute it throughout
the landscape; and ultimately to central management, where you are
creating consistent master data centrally. MDM can handle complex data
hierarchies, so Dickinson + Associates's consultants can work with you
on data modeling and determine how to most effectively represent your data
in MDM.
Our goal is to
lower our clients’ Total Cost of Ownership by reducing the costs of
ongoing master data maintenance and introducing key data governance
techniques. Dickinson + Associates's consultants bring strong Data
Management and Governance backgrounds and solid SAP expertise to help
meet our client’s business goals. Realize the full potential in your
investment through MDM solutions from Dickinson + Associates. |
