A sound MDM solution can help supply-chain managers to achieve data completeness, consistency, coherence and compatibility. Supply chain organizations need to be responsible for master data about customers, products, locations, vendors, and suppliers.
With data quality and consistency becoming critical in supply chain performance, supply chain leaders must pay more attention to MDM. Sales volumes are increasing, distribution networks are developing, and supply chain professionals are trying their best to cope up with evolving business imperatives.
A sound MDM solution can help supply-chain managers to achieve data completeness, consistency, coherence, and compatibility. Supply chain organizations need to be responsible for master data about customers, products, locations, vendors, and suppliers. Effective master data management platform around data accountability and ownership must be clearly defined and leveraged by supply chain leadership.
But why’s the focus on supply chain data management? Because today’s supply chains are highly data-dependent. When turned into information, this data delivers insights that can either surge or slide down in success charts. Companies that fail to properly track and manage supply chain data lack the ability to make informed decisions, let alone optimize overall performance.
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Master Data Management is the future of SCM
Traditionally, supply chain specialists implemented multiple systems, such as enterprise resource planning (ERPs), customer relationship management (CRMs), financial and warehousing software to take advantage of every opportunity to collect data. This sounds good in theory: but left disconnected, these systems lead to “unclean” data that could severely harm the efficiency of a supply chain.
As a result, organizations today lack quality data and interoperability of data sets across different trading partners. Most supply chain leaders agree that available data is difficult to correlate because it is siloed in a number of ways, due to disparate tools and standards, or simply because it is bad data. Fragmented and inconsistent data delays time-to-market, increases forecast errors, produces wrong production and inventory planning, affects cross-sell/upsell opportunities, and creates inefficiencies.
Timely access to clean, consistent, and accurate data is therefore pivotal not only for better communication between suppliers, partners, brokers and shippers, but also for product commercialization and innovation. So how can you extract the right data that will benefit your business? The answer is Master Data Management (MDM).
MDM is a comprehensive solution to define and manage all critical data. It provides a single, trusted view of data across the enterprise, agile self-service access, analytical graph-based exploration, governance, and a user-friendly dashboard. Supply chain leaders can use MDM to get rid of bad data and succeed in digitization. It ensures improved consistency, harmonization, standardization, and helps to manage data extensively throughout the supply chain.
Here are a few reasons why MDM is indispensable in today’s supply-chain management environment:
1. A single source of truth in the ever-evolving data landscape
Consider this: products move first from suppliers manufacturing units to the warehouse, then get further transported to retailer’s storage and finally to store shelves where customers buy the product. With the help of MDM, information like barcode, description, price, size, color is standardized and made accessible to everyone across the value chain. This allows data to move faster, more accurately, and with better efficiency.
2. Homogeneity and transparency across the organization
A wide-ranging MDM strategy can act as a communications bridge between the myriad supplier systems, ERPs, and CRM systems. All the attributes are containedin the system (like product description, barcode, vendor pack quantity, warehouse pack quantity, cold chain requirements, replenishment methods, shelf life of the product, size, color, MRP and so on). Consistent, reliable end-to-end data is the key and the cumulative collection and screening of all this information ensures utmost transparency.
During mergers and acquisitions, MDM is especially instrumental in the on-boarding of new partners, suppliers, systems, and products onto the platform. The better the transparency, the more convenient it is to identify revenue-generation and cost-cutting opportunities.
3. Accurate prediction and optimal inventory management
4. Assistance in global operations
Supply chain risk management (SCRM) controls are essential in such cases to comply with global trade agreements, tariffs, legalities, regulations, social norms etc. Through coupling with standardized supply chain data pools such as Global Data Synchronization Network (GSDN), MDM facilitates smooth information exchange and accessibility between all parties. It enables data standardization and improved collaboration amongst both internal and external parties, reduced administrative labor, accurate financial data and faster payment for suppliers.
5. Smart management and sustainability
An MDM that is built on a consolidated, scalable, and single platform binds master data throughout multiple domains, eliminating silos and integrating information seamlessly across systems. It can offer a single portal for all suppliers, not only to handle product data but constantly improve upon the overall management.
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