"Where is the current version of this customer data?" - "Which of these three supplier entries is the correct one?" - "Why don't the product prices in the online store match those in accounting?" If these questions sound familiar, your company needs data consolidation. Every day, companies incur financial losses due to incorrect customer data, duplicate supplier entries and incorrect material master data.
What is data consolidation?
Data consolidation is indispensable in the modern business world. Information from a wide variety of sources flows together on a daily basis: Marketing collects leads via social media, Sales maintains its contacts in the CRM, Accounting manages customer data in the ERP system, and the Service team uses its own ticketing system. The result without data consolidation? A fragmented data landscape that inhibits efficiency and generates costs.
During data consolidation, scattered and redundant data from different sources is merged and cleansed. The aim of data consolidation is to improve data quality, avoid duplicates and create a central, reliable database. This serves as the basis for all business processes and creates a reliable "single source of truth".
Also read our blog post "What is a single point of truth?"
Challenges in data consolidation
The need for data consolidation is clear, but implementation is not without its challenges. Here are some of the most common hurdles:
Duplicates in master data: Duplicates are the most common reason for data consolidation. In most companies, the same data records exist multiple times - be it customer, product or supplier data. This multiple entry leads to confusion, makes analyses more difficult and prevents reliable business decisions.
Outdated and inconsistent data: The second major challenge is outdated and inconsistent master data. Incorrect address data leads to incorrect deliveries, outdated prices to incorrect offers and invalid contact data to unsuccessful marketing campaigns. Without data consolidation, these errors accumulate and hinder day-to-day business.
Integration of different systems: The third challenge is the system landscape itself: CRM systems, ERP systems and marketing platforms - each system stores data in its own formats and structures. This technical diversity makes consolidation a complex task.
The following two examples show how these challenges play out in practice:
Example 1: Automotive supplier with integration problems
AUTOTEC GmbH (name changed) faced massive challenges following the takeover of a competitor:
Initial situation:
- Supplier data existed in multiple versions
- Delay in ordering processes by several days
- Annual additional costs due to inefficiencies
- Production losses due to incorrect part numbers
After data consolidation:
- Reduction of process times
- Cost savings in purchasing
- Reduced production downtime
- Increased ROI due to the consolidation measure
Example 2: Medium-sized mechanical engineering company in transition
Präzisionstechnik Müller AG (name changed) struggled with fragmented customer data after a merger:
Initial situation:
- Duplicates in the customer database
- Outdated contact information
- High marketing misdelivery rate
- High processing time for customer inquiries
After data consolidation:
- Lower delivery failure rate
- Increase in customer response rate
- Reduction in processing time
- Increased customer satisfaction
The path to successful data consolidation
Before companies begin with the actual data consolidation, the harmonization of master data is crucial. In this preparatory step, terms, formats and standards are standardized. Consolidation can only succeed if customer data, product codes or material masters are structured according to the same rules in all systems. Master data harmonization creates this important foundation.
Data consolidation with the SAP-based solution from zetVisions
The successful consolidation of master data requires an experienced partner with expertise in technical implementation and organizational transformation. zetVisions has been supporting companies with data consolidation for over 20 years. Our SAP-based solution is used by more than 200 companies - from SMEs to DAX-listed corporations. This experience makes us the ideal partner for your consolidation project.
zetVisions SPoT is our single and multi-domain solution for improved and sustainable data consistency and quality. SPoT enables continuous data exchange between SAP and non-SAP systems in real time. Whether customer data from the CRM system, supplier information, product data from PIM/PLM/PDM systems or data from Excel spreadsheets and other sources - all master data is consolidated centrally and automatically synchronized with the connected systems. This ensures that your master data is always up-to-date and consistent in all systems.
With SPoT, companies achieve long-term assurance of their data quality and reduce the complexity of master data management through:
- Optimized data maintenance processes
- Validation and data maintenance rules for data creation
- Preconceived, flexibly adaptable data models and interfaces
- Freely definable interfaces so that you can concentrate on the essentials
- Anchoring data governance and data ownership concepts
Take the first step towards a future-proof database. Download our white paper "Master data management" and find out how your company can benefit from consolidated master data. Our experts are available for a non-binding consultation.
Click here to download the white paper "Master data management"
