Best practices for Material Master cleanup and cleansing

Introduction

In asset-intensive industries, a well-organized Material Master is critical for efficient operations. Yet, over time, Material Masters often devolve into a “spaghetti mess” of errors, duplicates, and obsolete data. These issues create inefficiencies, add unnecessary costs, and complicate everything from procurement to production planning. While ETL programs aim to automate the cleanup, they frequently fall short without foundational data. In this article, we’ll explore why Material Masters become tangled, why precise data is essential for operators, and how world-class strategies—including Metanoia’s holistic approach—can restore clarity and efficiency to your master data.

Why are some Material Masters innacurate?

Material Masters are the backbone of asset-intensive industries, central to everything from procurement to production planning. But it’s no secret: over time, they often devolve into a “spaghetti mess”—a tangled web of inconsistent, inaccurate, and duplicate data that’s difficult to clean up. Here’s why:

• Limited Data Availability: Materials often lack essential information needed for accurate decision-making. Without foundational data from the OEM, or due to missing fields and incomplete specifications, the Material Master lacks the depth required to support effective sourcing, maintenance, and inventory management decisions.
• Data Entry Errors: When data is entered manually, mistakes are inevitable. A single typo or misclassification in material entries can snowball, creating duplicates, inconsistencies, and even misinformation.
• Lack of Standardization: Without standardization, different facilities or departments may define and name materials differently. A single part might have multiple descriptions or codes across locations, leading to duplication and confusion.
• Free Text Purchases: Allowing free-text entries for purchased materials can add non-standard entries and variations that don’t align with the structured Material Master. This practice creates chaos in tracking and managing materials consistently.

Why Do Businesses Need Precise Material Masters?

A precise Material Master isn’t just a “nice-to-have”—it’s essential for optimal operations and competitiveness. Here’s why it matters for operators:

• Production Planning and Scheduling: Accurate material data helps ensure that production runs are properly scheduled and don’t face interruptions due to material mismanagement. Precise data means that the right parts are always ready when needed.
• Efficient Supply Chain Management: With clear, accurate material data, operators can better track inventory levels, reduce excess stock, and avoid critical stockouts. This ensures smooth supply chain flow and reduces operational downtime.
• Strategic Sourcing: Material Masters support informed purchasing decisions. Operators can rely on data to source strategically, compare suppliers effectively, and avoid unnecessary spending on duplicate or obsolete materials.

Why Do ETL Programs Fail to Cleanse Material Masters?

While ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) programs offer automated data cleanup, they fall short in cleaning Material Masters. Here’s why:

• No Source Data from OEMs: Many Material Masters lack original equipment manufacturer (OEM) data, like part descriptions or specifications, making it hard for ETL programs to deliver accurate insights. Without foundational data, ETL programs can’t effectively clean or standardize records.
• Lack of Continuous Improvement: ETL programs are often one-time solutions that don’t account for the ongoing data degradation (entropy) inherent to Material Masters. Over time, new inaccuracies, duplicates, and obsolete data will accumulate, leaving the Material Master messy once again.

How Do World-Class Operators Cleanse Their Material Masters?

To tackle the challenges of Material Master cleanup, world-class operators (Coca-Cola, Newmont Mining, Cargill, and PhilipMorris) build a digital double with foundational data from OEM parts lists and illustrations. This data serves as the engineering source of truth and can be aligned to CMMS data to create more insights. Here’s how the process works:

1. Build Foundational BOMs from OEM Parts Catalogs: Creating Bills of Materials (BOMs) based on OEM catalogs ensures alignment with the original parts specifications and structure.
2. Align Material Master to Foundational BOMs: Once the foundational BOMs are in place, the Material Master can be cross-referenced and aligned with them, eliminating inconsistencies and redundant records.
3. Identify and Address Mismatches: Any parts that don’t match the BOMs are likely obsolete, duplicated, or interchangeable, and can often be retired. This targeted cleanup removes inaccuracies and ensures that the Material Master only contains relevant, current data.

Unlike ETL programs, which operate as “garbage in, garbage out,” this approach leverages OEM source data to create a foundation of reliable, accurate records.

How Metanoia Helps Companies Cleanse Their Material Masters

Metanoia understands the monumental effort involved in creating and maintaining a clean Material Master. Our team brings both expertise and proprietary tools to streamline the entire process:

• Building Foundational BOMs for All MRO Spares: Metanoia’s operational application and programs take on the labor-intensive task of building and cataloging all MRO spares, allowing companies to focus on core operations.
• Aligning Material Master to Foundational BOMs: We use a proprietary system to precisely align your Material Master to foundational BOMs, ensuring consistency and accuracy.
• Managing Duplicate and Interchangeable Parts with Global Records: Our Asset Information Center (AIC) provides a structured framework to track and link duplicate and interchangeable parts, ensuring seamless data management.
• Continuous Improvement for Long-Term Data Health: Metanoia’s continuous improvement processes ensure that Material Master data remains accurate over time. We don’t just deliver a one-time solution; we work alongside your team, providing ongoing support to keep your data clean, relevant, and optimized.

Metanoia provides an organic and holistic approach to Material Master data cleanup. Their team stays actively involved, working with you weekly to reduce duplications, manage obsolescence, and maintain data quality. With Metanoia’s operational application, expertise, and continuous improvement philosophy, businesses to transform their Material Masters from a spaghetti mess into a streamlined, strategic asset.