Item Master Data Management (Item MDM)
iSteer provides enterprise business solutions to build next-generation organizations by empowering fresh ideas and bringing a strategic perspective to every engagement. The company's insights are backed by a rigorous process of analysis and solution development in the areas of integration, data management, and digital transformations.
Challenge
Manufacturing companies today typically have many applications and systems (ERP, CRM) that share data across organizational departments. This data can easily become duplicated and, most importantly, out of sync or outdated. When this happens, integration of these systems has no value. It is no longer possible to answer even basic questions such as "What are my site-specific items," "What product(s) have the best margins," and "Which of my products are configurable," as well as critical questions about metrics and KPIs. A technology solution without corresponding changes to the business process is likely to fail. One such business process, Configure Price Quote (CPQ), requires high-quality item/product data to accurately configure complex products and services and deliver a personalized quote to the customer.
Partner Solution
Getting answers to the above questions and helping businesses gain insights require accurate master data flowing to downstream systems such as CPQ, ERP, and CRM. This is also an essential success factor for seamless business process integration. iSteer's Item Master Data Management (Item MDM) powered by TIBCO EBX® software allows businesses to connect ERP, CPQ, CRM, and analytical systems through a centralized, well-governed solution.
Solution Features
- On-demand Product, Item, and Part Type extraction workflow from the ERP system
- Part Type data standardization based on enumerated values on color, grill, type, materials
- Perspective-driven data search and selection criteria for business users
- Composite Part Type views allow choosing the right data over various part types, a unique implementation of hierarchy-based navigation
- Data interfaces invoked through the interoperability and connecting layer
- Item synchronization between Item MDM, ERP, and CPQ based on the RESTful API endpoints and with API management capabilities
- Support for user transfer of multiple items to the cloud and on-premises systems enables item-level analytics
- Data security based on user roles
- Scalable architecture to allow more product series data to be added into the solution
Benefits
Single Source of Truth
With consistent, high-quality item and product information in a single place, Item MDM makes downstream data dissemination easier and builds trustworthiness of item master data throughout the enterprise. The solution records all the key information about a particular item of inventory, including all part types, color, grill type, glass, and material.
Data Governance and Security
With IT and business team involvement, data assets are qualified and quantified to enable the business to maximize value. A systematic policy-based approach by the data governance council enhances information collection, security, usage, and retention.
Reduced Time to Market
For complex customer configurations, it's essential that quality data be organized centrally yet provide “site” specific types, allowing quick configuration, price, and quoting processes.
Increased Customer Satisfaction
The ability to access the latest master data quickly and accurately improves customer satisfaction and opens avenues for cross- and up-selling.
Reduced IT Costs
Having a single container of master data, the Item MDM solution eliminates the need to maintain multiple copies of master data and the associated maintenance activities.
Analytical Advantage
As a trusted data source, Item MDM often becomes a key source of information for a data warehouse, data lake, data mart, and analytical tools for reliable, insightful information.
