Effective data management is a fundamental prerequisite for the success of many business processes. Enterprises are constantly looking for new solutions that would streamline the flow of product data, eliminate errors, and improve information flow throughout the entire supply chain. The information exchange process can be automated using an electronic catalog as a complete solution for integrated data management. Thanks to the applied global GS1 standards (GLN, GTIN, EANCOM), it ensures effective data exchange between suppliers and recipients, not only locally but on a global scale. The largest European catalog is SINFOS, which also operates on the Polish market. The benefits of global data synchronization (GDS) for products based on an electronic catalog were noticed by one of the largest chains – METRO Group. It is therefore worth tracing the implementation of the solution in the United Kingdom.
Introduction.
Makro began its trading operations in the United Kingdom in May 1971 in Eccles, Manchester. The company operates 33 cash&carry stores in the UK with 25,000 product lines and a company turnover exceeding £1 billion.
The challenge – correct data.
Makro is part of the global company METRO Group. For a chain that has 50,000 product lines in 544 cash&carry stores in 30 different countries, collecting and managing data from suppliers posed a major challenge. An analysis conducted by Makro showed that approximately 3.2% of invoices contained incorrect product data, which led to large annual losses. Consequently, incorrect information also leads to problems related to product availability on the shelf, as well as in the area of warehousing and distribution. The METRO Group decided to solve the problem of incorrect data from suppliers by standardizing the way it is collected. These actions were intended to enable the company to manage product data in a centralized manner and to increase the transparency of operations throughout the company. In 2003, the METRO Group began implementing master product data synchronization in all its branches worldwide. METRO uses the largest European product catalog, one of the first certified in GDSN, provided by the company SINFOS. The Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) is a network of mutually compatible electronic catalogs based on GS1 standards.
– Since GDSN is based on global standards, implementing a catalog certified for compliance with them means that setting key business data by suppliers for all their customers is a one-time activity. – said Philip Steedman, E-commerce Manager, Makro.
Makro began using GDS to synchronize master product data with its suppliers, thus ensuring that the same consistent data is used throughout the supply chain.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2/2008.