Business processes can only be efficient if manufacturers and trading companies define the same features for a product. Standards for product master data ensure that trading partners have the same information. Both sides are working on harmonizing their data.

Distinctive, up-to-date and full product information is the basis for a number of business processes and as a result trading companies and manufacturers rely on master data: specific characteristics are defined for a certain product to create a profile.

This data then makes up the master data. The structure and level of detail varies depending on company and product. As manufacturers and trading companies are exchanging huge volumes of data on a daily basis several bodies are driving the standardization of these profiles. The EAN system was introduced back in 1977 as a standardized number system, which clearly identifies every product. The respective EAN codes are matched to the respective product trait. By the proceeding globalization of trading the EAN code was internationalized and is now called Global Trade Item Number (GTIN).

Trading companies and manufacturers exchange data by a range of means. The traditional way of sharing information is on paper – i.e. by letter of fax – which is comparatively laborious and prone to mistakes: information has to be entered into computer systems manually. Trading companies and suppliers are now increasingly using the Internet to communicate master data. The work-load however increases as soon as business partners exchange data bilaterally. As a result more and more companies are shifting to data pools such as SA2 Worldsync: manufacturers feed their static data into a pool to which trading companies have access. The advantage: there is only one central address for data exchange. In order to ensure that the data follows a clear structure information can only be entered according to a specific format.

Trading companies and manufacturers benefit equally from data pools: laborious coordination processes with business partners are eradicated. Manufacturers can up-date their static data centrally at the click of a mouse. This is particularly important for products which are subject to innovation. It also boosts the quality of data exchange, because a typical source of mistakes is the manual transmission of data, which is then no longer necessary and SA2 Worldsync also automatically checks all entries. Increased data quality has a positive knock-on effect on the quality of down-stream logistics processes. This relieves METRO Group staff from laborious entry and maintenance chores and enables them to focus on their core activities: purchasing at best terms and perfectly designing assortments.

All METRO Group sales lines map their approx. 6,000 suppliers with master data. Every article is defined by basic data and an additional brief text to describe the product. Data reaches the group in two ways: countless small and medium sized companies still submit their information by mail or fax. But METRO Group buyers can increasingly retrieve data from the SA2 Worldsync data pool and process it in METRO Group’s own data catalog MMS-CAT. Information which has been received in a number of ways is then collected in MMS-CAT in METRO Group’s purchasing division METRO Group Buying (MGB). MGB then circulates the master data to the sales divisions. Their staff then add information such as sales prices and forward these details to their individual stores. METRO Group’s objective is to optimize the flow of incoming master data: MMS-CAT serves as a central data source for all sales divisions.

Kraft Foods is one of the first international brand manufacturers to have synchronized master data with METRO Group. Both companies synchronized their shared master data in the course of nine months in 2002. The result of this training: The harmonization of master data can be managed within 30 days. A further project has been initiated with Henkel. Further tests are running with some other business partners for example with the textile section of Galeria Kaufhof.