Due to supply bottlenecks and rising prices, product master data and bills of materials are taking on increasing strategic importance. This is often confronted with a heterogeneously grown data landscape with repeated maintenance, which means that the administrative workload and the uncontrolled growth of data gradually rise. This leaves little time to focus on things that are actually important; your production and ability to innovate.
All activities, procedures and processes in your manufacturing and production environment have one thing in common: homogeneous, accurate and complete product master data. Fundamentally, they are nothing more than descriptions and characteristics that make each product or product part unique. This data rarely changes and is characterized by how consistent it is. This includes, for example, components, raw materials, materials, individual parts, required quantity, product number, price, identifier and warehouse location. The array of application-specific product master data is extensive and includes information for development, production, procurement, sales, logistics and other business areas. This is down to the fact that, broadly speaking, this product master data is required for operational activities in the different departments and stages of production.
Which brings us one step further to product transaction data and the related operational sequences and processes. They are generated during production, manufacturing and other operational activities. The product transaction data includes, for example, the production quantity of a product, the turnover, the sales volume and the purchase price of raw materials. In virtually all cases, the product master data plays an important role in your product transaction data. For example, the quantity of a certain raw material required to manufacture a product is used to calculate an order. The price, the product number and the product description are the basis of a quote drawn up by the sales department. What’s more, the storage location and the specific component master data are relevant for delivery to the production site.
These causal relationships are precisely the reason why homogeneous, trustworthy and complete product master data are at the heart of your operational activities and the related product transaction data. Because, if the product master database is already of a low quality, the subsequent processes and operations based on it will be just as inaccurate, inefficient and erroneous. To get around this, there is no need to rebuild your IT infrastructure around your manufacturing and production from scratch. Our multi-domain Master Data Management system is designed to do just that; it integrates into your existing data landscape, regardless of IT systems and vendors. Because effectiveness and high-quality data start with your product master data from the outset. This is the only way to make well-founded, data-driven decisions and, in turn, devote more time to production and innovation.
