In a manufacturing business all individual branch offices procure and produce their own materials. Those materials are eventually kept in stock and recorded. With the digital Shared Services solution, a central repository of information on materials can be created. It contains descriptions and key data on all the materials that an enterprise has on record for a certain amount of time. This database can be called up at any time and from any connected device via the digital infrastructure of the MDM Enterprise Cloud. Employees can simply enter all news and changes made on recorded materials digitally.

A list of key data that is part of the material master database and therefore needs to be updated regularly can contain information such as purchasing, engineering, storage, forecasting and accounting. Purchasing in turn for example contains such data as the purchasing group responsible for a material, over- and underdelivery tolerances, and the order unit. Engineering contains design data like drawings, dimensions and specifications and so on.

The material data is visibly organized in hierarchical fashion. In addition to the vertical organization of data a horizontal branch defines client, plant and storage location of every material. This structure facilitates organization of material-related information and prevents redundant storage of data. Especially, when material is stored in more than one location or used in more than one plant.

For an in-detail-explanation and more background knowledge, look forward to our video on material master data, which we will upload on YouTube.

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