Material Master Data: Why a Multi-Domain solution is not enough!

As a Chief Procurement Officer, you know the importance of procurement data quality and worry about your Material Master Data.?However, considering your CIO may have decided for, or is already implementing, a multi-domain master data management (like SAP MDG) to govern all Company's Master Data, including your Material Master Data, now, you feel comfortable.

But, beyond the glittering facade shown you, have you investigated if that is enough for your needs?

This blog post will explore the benefits of expanding MDM generalist solutions with specialized tools specific to Material MDM.

Why is this crucial to consider? Because Multi-Domain MDM solutions, such as SAP MDG, have the core capability to manage a collaborative workflow-based governance process without any built-in specific knowledge. Managing Material Master Data requires extensive domain-specific knowledge, so multi-Domain solutions need users or consultants to build their data quality and transformation rules from scratch. While this approach may be manageable for vendors, customers, and other Master Data with limited characteristics, it is a years-long painful exercise for materials. Even if you decide to follow this path, you will discover that foundational activities to assure Material Data Quality, such as categorizing new items and checking possible new duplicates while creating them, that, by the way, is at the core of today's mess, must still be delivered in a very manual old-fashion way by dedicated teams and with the same problems of your former ERP process.?

So, since you cannot revert the decision for a Multi-Domain solution, what can you do?

It would be best if you consider the Multi-Domain as a platform connecting APIs that provide functionalities that are crucial for day-by-day activities like:

• AI-supported search. End-users can fill in a description of the item they are searching for in their natural language, and the AI real-time provides the best options.
• Cross-language retrieval of duplicate items. Creating duplicate spare parts can be real-time avoided from the very beginning of the process.
• Real-time categorization. The user can choose from a short list of categories suggested by the AI engine.
• Real-time automatic filling of data sheets of the category to which the material being created belongs.
• KPIs like Stock, consumption, and POs can drive and prioritize Golden Record creation.?

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If you are looking for a cloud-based Material Master Data governance solution that is easy to integrate and won’t change your daily routine, TAM might be the perfect fit for you. Our team of experts can help set you up with our software in no time so that you can start governing your Material and Services data like a PRO. Click here to learn more about how it can benefit your business, and contact us to see our TAM in action!