If the Goal is Safe Reliable Production Operations, Improve the Master Data Foundation

For better Operations & Maintenance outcomes in asset intensive companies, maximize the effectiveness of Maintenance and Supply Chain (MRO) business processes. The weakness is often in the supporting master data. MRO material identities, the combination of the descriptions, key specifications, and manufacturer’s part numbers (where applicable), are usually the weakest point. Ad hoc nomenclature standards are the root of the weak MRO material master identity problem. Applying a structured identification taxonomy gives comparable items so the clutter can be removed. Using the taxonomy post cleanse keeps it that way. A […]

Migration of Quality Data is Key to S4HANA Implementation Success (Everyone Knows That)

The reality is that what quality master data is, must be defined for each master data object. The requirements for quality functional location and equipment master data are different from a quality set of general ledger accounts, and from my speciality MRO material master catalogue items. When looked at through the in vogue “data” lens, we hear that for data to be quality it needs to be Accurate, Complete, Consistent, Timely as well as other things. None of these speak of what is needed for your data to deliver value […]

Quality Material Identities are fundamental to MRO Inventory Control

Inventory control is an old concept. It has been part of the business vocabulary likely since the days of Henry Ford. The idea is to apply management science to optimize the value and effectiveness of inventory. A typical definition is the process of keeping the right number of parts and products in stock to avoid shortages, overstocks, and other costly problems. In the world of Energy, Utilities, Mining and Pipeline companies; Maintenance Repair and Operations (MRO) materials are the key inventory type because they are so significant in maximizing asset […]

MRO Material Master Quality

What is the key quality trait of MRO material masters to deliver value to the business? The answer points to what is needed for success in a material master catalogue cleanse. People working in Maintenance, Supply Chain and Reliability processes in asset intensive businesses, know weak low quality MRO material masters are a significant and unnecessary value drain. Cleansing your MRO material catalogue is the common suggested fix to improve quality. But what does the cleanse need to achieve to return value? The answer, structured unique identities for every record […]

Does your asset intensive company grow by acquisition?

Standardize your MRO Material Identities to improve effectiveness. Inherent to a growth by acquisition strategy is betting that you run operations and maintenance more effectively than the acquired assets were run. Superior O&M performance shows up in financial results. Often acting as a counterweight to your superior processes and execution is the compounding effect of weak MRO material identities. If you do not have a solid MRO material identification taxonomy, then when you merge an acquiree’s items you are at best only partially deduplicating the combined catalogue. Worse you are […]

Fixing your MRO material catalogue is smart business

Operational efficiency improvement is the best approach when considering how to move forward from pandemic challenges. Reducing waste in your business processes is getting more from less. It helps now and it helps future application, technology and process upgrades by just making things work better easier. Poorly identified material masters in your MRO catalogue is an ongoing problem that slows procurement, inventory and maintenance processes while introducing errors and rework at every stage. This can be corrected by applying a structured MRO material identification taxonomy. A taxonomy that is tight […]