The Importance of Master Data Management (MDM)

Businesses deal with massive amounts of data influx every single day. Naturally, as a result, measures must be made, and tools implemented to ensure that the data is organized and managed efficiently. This can be difficult when operating on spreadsheets or software such as QuickBooks that cannot keep up with large amounts of data coming into a business and simultaneously remain properly organized.

 

This is where Master Data Management (MDM) comes into play!

 

By definition according to SAP Insights, master data management is the process of creating and maintaining a single master record – or single source of truth – for each person, place, and thing in a business. Through MDM, organizations gain a trusted, current view of key data that can be shared across the business and used for better reporting, decision-making, and process efficiency (1).

 

There are three primary categories of master data:

1. Customer: Contains information such as customer contact names, employee contact information, sales representatives’ information and more.
2. Product: In product master data, there is information about products that a business sells and corresponding subcategories such as components, BOM, labor costs allocated to specific products etc.
3. Location: Location master data encompasses information such as warehouse addresses, shipping addresses, and customer business billing addresses to ensure accurate deliveries and shipments.

 

Other types of master data include historical data that can be stored and utilized to predict future performance and demand. The task of maintaining accurate master data records sounds like one that every business should be completing, but how is it achieved? There are many ways for businesses to successfully implement MDM solutions. One of the best and most comprehensive solutions is to implement an Enterprise Resource Planning solution.

 

ERP solutions are designed for company-wide data to be stored on one singular shared database for employees to have the ability to access information seamlessly and communicate effectively. Preventing siloed departments is important for communication across the entire company and ensuring that information being communicated is accurate.

 

By implementing master data management functionality through an ERP, businesses do not have to worry about searching multiple locations for specific data. ERP solutions help business achieve incredible levels of organization, accuracy, and communication, allowing MDM functionality to occur seamlessly. Master data management in essence, helps businesses achieve the single source of the truth by acting as an electronic file folder system, allowing users to almost instantly be able to pull up historical data (2).

 

An incredible benefit of having a master record of organizational wide data is the insights that are gained from this information. With comprehensive insights updated in real time, companies have the ability to improve and streamline their business processes and make well-informed decisions.

 

Check out this video from our Softengine series Maximizing Your Business Potential that outlines the variety of benefits that companies achieve from having real-time data access!

 

SAP Business One is an ERP for small to midsize businesses that provides users with incredible MDM functionality! With menus such as item master data, employee master data, customer master data etc., Business One ensures that business data is organized in their respected categories. Utilizing this historic data helps employees complete sales orders and production orders with greater accuracy because the data is already stored within the database.

 

In conclusion, implementing Master Data Management techniques into your business strategy and solutions will prove incredibly beneficial to the entire team by achieving greater levels of organization, accuracy, communication, and efficiency.

 

Here at Softengine, we are a SAP Gold Partner for SAP Business One, specializing in streamlining business processes for growing small to medium sized businesses. Let us help you take your business to the next level of technological automation with SAP Business One!

 

Contact us today for inquiries and to book a demo of SAP Business One: info@softengine.com

 

More information about SAP Business One: https://softengine.com/product/sap-business-one/

 

Resources:

(1). https://www.sap.com/insights/what-is-master-data-management-mdm.html

(2). https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/master-data-management