Everyone believes that he understands exactly what the concept of good service means. But merely defining the term service itself gives rise to a broad range of conflicting interpretations: some people use the word to refer to all types of services, while others mean the quick repair of goods or simply faster information. IT people, on the other hand, think of service as the bundled functions of a software component, and in the travel expense statement it can mean the price of a meal in a restaurant. As the example proves: if a large organization does not define all of the terms in detail and, above all, uniformly, many measures will quickly run aground or prompt costly questioning.

Securing the consistency of information, products, suppliers, and materials in a company is dependent on the master data management (MDM). But any manager who regards MDM merely as a data sheet for the company’s own merchandise groups is making a mistake. Used properly, MDM generates enormous potential for realizing complete business strategies. It should always act as a pillar of corporate philosophy and enjoy the appropriate attention from top management.

Better Interaction

What, in concrete terms, are the opportunities? Central master data management insures that all applications utilize the same global master data which is binding throughout the company. Since process interfaces benefit especially from standardized master data, effective master data management improves above all the efficiency of cross-departmental procedures. When product developers, for example, want to explain innovations to the sales department, the two sides frequently discover that they lack the data basis for mutual understanding. The people involved attempt to clarify contents by exchanging e-mails with various attachments such as material parts lists, product development data, or price files. But the flood of correspondence means a loss of control over data changes so that everyone is accessing a different status of orders, product releases, or research results.

Central MDM, on the other hand, can easily raise the process speed and the quality of collaboration activities by as much as 25%. This value, based on experience, arises from the fact that processes at the interface between product management/development and realization are generally implemented inadequately. It is not at all uncommon for evaluations of product quantities and sales from the commercial (BSS) and technical systems (OSS) to deviate. Releases of orders and offers are delayed accordingly.