This is surprisingly common, even among companies that have spent millions of dollars and years on master data management. They still launch products, open plants and onboard suppliers with master data that isn’t ready for the business. The data exists. It just isn’t ready for planning, buying, making, releasing or shipping. The problem isn’t a lack of effort or investment. It is structural, built into the way master data management is done today.
This article explains why master data has become a supply chain problem, why traditional MDM approach doesn’t fix it, and what it looks like when master data is business-ready.
Master data is a supply chain problem, not an IT problem
Master data issues rarely announce themselves as master data issues. They show up as supply chain issues:
- Product launches that slip because a new material isn’t extended to the right plants, sales orgs and storage locations in time
- Planning that can’t be trusted because MRP parameters, lead times and lot sizes were copied from a similar material and never revisited
- Supplier and CMO onboarding that drags because sources of supply, info records and specifications are incomplete
- Inventory stuck in quality because inspection plans and specifications were never set up for the new material or plant
- Deliveries blocked because weights, dimensions, units of measure or dangerous goods data are missing
- Costs that surprise finance because costing and valuation data arrived after the first production run