Case Study 1 : Data Cleansing
Client Background :
The client is one of the leading manufacturers and distributors in the Fertilizers and Industrial Chemicals sector having turn over around 10,000cr with 5 operating plants across India.
With a rapidly expanding product portfolio and a high volume of material transactions YOY, their Material Master Data had grown inconsistently over time to around 93,258 SKU’s with a inventory value of 125cr, leading to inefficiencies across supply chain, inventory, procurement, and compliance processes.
Challenges & Master Data Pain Areas :
The client faced critical data quality issues, including:
- Duplicate material codes across SAP
- SAP material group mismatches
- Inconsistent naming conventions and formats
- Spelling errors & unstructured material descriptions
- Missing technical attributes in material master such as OEM, MPN, Size, UoM, and drawing/tag details
- Difficulty in identifying obsolete and non-moving inventory
- Lack of a central tracking & data quality governance mechanism
- Operational delays in procurement and inaccurate stock forecasting
These challenges impacted business KPIs such as:
- Inventory & Inventory carrying cost
- Equipment Bill of materials (BOM) correctness
- Material searchability and reporting reliability
W2W Solution:
A Complete Data-Driven Master Data Quality Upliftment Approach
Material Master Data Cleansing & Governance Platform is deployed by W2W with following Core Transformation Framework
|
Project Stage |
Key Activities |
|
Data Cleansing |
Duplicate detection, phase-out spare identification (equipment/machine and technology), Conversion of OEM spares into standard spares |
|
Data Standardization |
Normalization of Category, OEM/MPN structuring, UoM, Size formats, Abbreviations, Tag numbers, Text Separator, etc. Design and implement string consistency based on customer requirements and MRO category standards |
|
Data Enrichment |
Technical Attribute such as OEM/MPN/Size/UoM etc., tags & drawing numbers, OEM equipment details. Implementation of attribute labels & value combination for long descriptions. |
|
Data Validation |
Technical Attributes verification from catalogues/drawings & through physical verification |
|
Inventory Reduction |
Identification and Classification of Non-Moving & Obsolete. Complete Identification of repetitive, and duplicate material codes (post-standardization and enrichment) |
|
MDM Support for Data Control, Data Governance & Sustainability |
MDM Tool Implementation Support including process design aligned with data standardization SOPs for new material code creation, integrated duplicate-check search functionality Continuous MDM tool support to govern and maintain data quality for new material code creation, sustained for over 6 years. |
|
S4 HANA Implementation Support |
SAP template-based data transformation, including mapping of material groups and sub-groups, material type, unit of measure (UoM), accounting data, and HSN codes, along with conversion of long material descriptions to meet template requirements. |
Results & Business Impact :
1. Material Master Data Complexity Reduction and Quality Improvements :
-
66% reduction in material codes i.e. 93,258 SKU’s reduced to 31,881 SKU’s
-
100% accuracy achieved for Data Standardization
-
85% accuracy achieved for Data Enrichment & Data Validation
2. Inventory Optimization Impact :
-
Inventory volume reduced from 125cr to 114cr (approx. 9% reduction) through cleansing insights
3. Data Sustainability Gains :
-
Governance controls enabled for new material code creation
-
Continuous duplicate prevention workflows implemented
-
YOY feedback loop established for ongoing accuracy monitoring
-
Long-term master data reliability secured across the organization
Key Outcomes Delivered :
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Centralized Master Data Governance Model
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Accurate and structured Material Master Database
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Compliance-aligned OEM, MPN, HSN, and attribute, categories & group mapping
-
Duplicate-free code creation control
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Reduced inventory waste and carrying cost
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Sustainable data processes for future scalability
Conclusion
By implementing W2W’s Material Master Data Cleansing and Governance Platform, the client successfully transformed its master data into a single source of truth, enabling higher accuracy, compliance, inventory optimization, and long-term operational reliability.
This initiative now supports improved decision-making across procurement, supply chain, finance, and plant operations—creating a scalable model for continuous Master Data Quality Upliftment.
