A confectionery manufacturer’s regional distribution centre in England, which serves the UK and Ireland, creates and extends about 720 materials a year for new product introductions. Several master data objects had to be handled manually, and sales were growing by 20–40% a year. Together with the client’s process experts, we redesigned the master data creation process and built interconnected workflows on Automate Evolve. Products now reach the market about three weeks faster.
720
materials created and extended per year
7
departments in one process
753
business rules
~3 weeks
faster time to market
The challengeGrowing volume, manual master data steps
The client used SAP MDG to support its material master data management process for multiple material types. Several master data objects could not be handled there, and the approval and data entry steps were manual.
The volume was significant and growing: every year more than 130 new finished goods, 90 trading goods and 500 packaging materials were created and extended in 3 plants and more than 60 storage locations.
Sales were growing by 20–40% year on year. It was clear that neither the existing process nor the system landscape could support this growth.
Project facts
- Client: confectionery manufacturer, regional distribution centre in England serving the UK and Ireland
- Process: material master data for New Product Introduction
- Scope: 3 plants, 60+ storage locations, 7 departments
- System: SAP ECC
- Product: Automate Evolve
- Volume: 720 materials created and extended per year
- Time to value: 9 months
The solutionThe master data process, redesigned end to end
We worked with the client’s process experts from the Master Data, Marketing, Supply Chain, FP&A, Accounting, Procurement and Planning departments. Together we redesigned the complete master data creation process, then designed and implemented multiple interconnected workflow solutions that orchestrate the master data side of New Product Introduction.
The process runs in two phases. In the first phase, master data that is about 80–90% final is created, so that production planning and procurement for trial production can take place in SAP. In the second phase the process runs again and updates the master data objects with the final data.
A central dashboard shows request status, processing times and pending tasks in real time.
Key functionalities
Quality assurance
Data is validated before submission against SAP and 753 additional business rules. A duplicate check runs against SAP data and against requests still in progress.
Process management
Seven departments work in one process, with a mixture of parallel and sequential approvals. Unnecessary re-approvals are avoided.
Automation engine for all master data objects
Data is maintained in SAP automatically for eleven objects: material creation, material change, plant extension, storage location extension, BOM creation, vendor pricing, sales pricing, routing, versioning, material determination and COGS change.
Business valueWhat changed in New Product Introduction
- About 3 weeks faster time to market. New products are ready in SAP sooner.
- Better data quality. Data is validated and checked for duplicates before submission.
- More transparency and control. The status of every request can be tracked.
- Better user experience. Users are more productive.
Behind this storyThe solutions, the product and the service
SolutionProcess Automation & Digitalisation
SolutionMaster Data Management
ProductAutomate Evolve
ServiceSolution Design & Implementation
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