Abstract:
This article briefly recaps the value of quality data in the supply chain and the challenges with today’s automated mass sharing of information with internal and external customers.
This article addresses how we all got here and what we can do about it. There are four critical success factors of 1) Scope, 2) Team, 3) Process and 4) Technology and this article will give you the stepping stones to be successful in cleaning your critical data.
Executive Summary of the issue: Think of data cleansing as system immunization.
Competition for business has fuelled system complexities. We are clearly in the information age. There is more data being sent around the world today than ever, and this is only going to grow exponentially. To have the competitive edge today you have to be able to share clean, accurate data quickly. It’s not enough just to have a good product, your customers have to recognize the right product, color and size from a internet catalogue, the system has to process the correct item on the order and send the information to distribution systems, distribution has to pick and ship the right item. All of this is dependent on each system being able to share and communicate the same product item data.
The pace with which companies are forced to operate and to compete globally has taxed existing systems and increased their inefficiencies. Mergers and Acquisitions have introduced new ERP implementations, forced incorporation of legacy systems, merged processes, combined products, and consolidated customers. Technology has moved forward but so has the creativity of the humans forcing the data requirements into fields and applications to meet their business needs to keep existing customers satisfied or to capture new sales. Gartner research firm indicates that the average Fortune 100 organization has more than eight data stores, 15 information platforms, 10 critical systems, and