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Ask any business or supply chain colleague, and their impression of SAP is that it is challenging and complex. They tend to shy away. It is unfortunate, especially when it comes to Master Data, because this avoidance and lack of understanding are an impediment to achieving Business and Supply Chain Excellence using SAP. The following scenarios highlight how Business and Supply Chain teams are empowered to lead and drive SAP Master Data Excellence.
Why Business Teams should own and contribute to SAP Master Data Excellence
When business teams own master data, it eliminates the disconnect between Master Data and its impact on business processes and business excellence. The domain expertise, combined with accountability, creates more accurate, timely, and actionable master data. The key question is how to enable business teams to own Master Data.
Learn more about how to make it happen and what to avoid.
When is Materials Master Data ready for Business?
A common misconception is that Material Master data becomes usable immediately after creation (MM01) in SAP, when it’s actually just the first step in a lengthy process.
The overall scope of the material master creation process is significant and cross-functional, encompassing many of the activities and master data elements shown in the picture below. The Material Master (Finished Product) shown below is ready for business when the whole process is completed successfully without errors.
Our experience in several industries has revealed that the above process is
- very manual, even when Master Data solutions are used
- takes a long time due to coordination issues
- is inefficient (process cost alone can exceed thousands of dollars)
- Error-prone, requiring rework and, in some cases, leading to drastic operational and supply chain failures
Learn more about the business teams’ use of a workflow-driven Process Orchestration approach that can make the whole process error-proof, collaborative, fast, automated, and efficient.
One Size Does Not Fit All – Reasons why organizations prefer local and regional master data processes instead of global master data processes
Suppose your company’s operational and supply chain footprint resembles the picture shown below, with manufacturing plants, contract manufacturing partners, and sales offices in different parts of the world. In that case, the question of how to support various regional and business-specific Master Data needs becomes important.
Learn more about the reasons why organizations prefer local and regional master data processes instead of global master data processes.
Extending Master Data processes to the Supply Chain
Many Master Data objects and elements originate from suppliers and customers. However, collecting this critical information from suppliers and customers can be a significant undertaking that requires substantial coordination, communication, and validation efforts.
Learn more about master data workflows that extend directly to suppliers and customers to make master data management efficient, error-proof, and fast.
Measure what matters – How good is your SAP Master Data for Business and Supply Chain Excellence
Assessing Master Data from a business and supply chain readiness and excellence perspective represents a fundamental shift from traditional data quality-focused approaches.
Traditional Master Data Quality assessments typically focus on technical metrics, such as completeness, accuracy, and consistency. A Business Excellence Assessment examines how master data directly enables critical business functions such as sales readiness, supply chain optimization, e-commerce operations, logistics efficiency, finance, and quality management processes.
Learn more about Business and Supply Chain Excellence-focused Master Data assessments.
