ECCMA Updates Member Profiles. From the Executive Director

(1)

ECCMA Newsletter 1 October 2007

NEWSLETTER

Member Profiles Member Profiles

Member Profiles Industry CornerIndustry CornerIndustry Corner Project UpdatesProject Updates Project Updates

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

ECCMA UpdatesECCMA UpdatesECCMA Updates Who’s WhoWho’s WhoWho’s Who Recap MeetingsRecap MeetingsRecap Meetings

www.eccma.org

October 2007

We expect to initiate translation of the NSN data into eOTD-r-xml before the end of this year, as a

sufficient number of ECCMA members responded to our email.

From the Executive Director

t is very exciting to see

the rapid growth in eOTD

implementations as well

as the progress in the

development of ISO 8000.

We’ve had our heads down

working on the NATO eOTD

Application Guide that we expect

to make available in December.

We are looking for reviewers and

anyone interested in reviewing

the draft should contact me (you

have to agree to submit a

comment form by November 5).

Dr. Radack and I are also working

on an outline for a book on

Master Data Quality that we

expect to complete early next

year, so 2008 will be a busy year

as well.

When we set out on this journey,

our goal was to find a way to

improve the quality and lower the

cost of master data in an

environment where suppliers

were often not forthcoming with

characteristic data. Many feared

that this data would be used to

commoditize their products and

services. I can still remember my

first survey of the top 10 U.S.

vendors measured by the number

of NSNs they had been issued.

The environment has certainly

changed, and it is making our job

easier. Faced with the sharing of

data amongst buyers, suppliers

and manufacturers have quickly

realized that it is better to be the

authoritative source of their own

data than to allow others to

exchange what is often

inaccurate and out of date. Many

suppliers and manufacturers are

even publishing their catalogues

and specifications on the Web.

The last step in this process is to

move from inefficient web

scrubbing tools to more efficient

query and data exchange

protocols such as eOTD-q-xml

and eOTD-r-xml. The move from

publishing a web catalogue to

responding to a specific query is

technically simple, and helps

suppliers better understand data

requirements. The flip side of the

process is that the person

requesting the data needs to be

more accurate in specifying their

data requirements.

It really is a matter of “if you are

careful in what you ask for – you

might just get it.” I was reminded

by a close friend of the story of

“Many Moons” By James Thurber

in which a Princess wants the

moon--an apparently impossible

request--until someone asks her

to describe the moon. "It is as big

as the nail on my finger,” she

says. “I know this is so, because

when I put my small finger in front

of the moon, my fingernail covers

it." "What do you think the moon

is made of?" The princess

laughed and said, "Of course, it is

made of gold." The jeweler made

a round moon of gold, a little

smaller than the fingernail of the

Princess. Then he put the moon

on a gold chain so that Lenore

could wear it on her neck. She

was so happy that she quickly got

well.” Not that all our data

problems will be solved that

easily; but it starts with being able

to clearly and unambiguously

communicate our data

requirements in a form that the

person we are asking can

process the request at minimum

cost.

Respectfully submitted

Peter Benson

(2)

Over the past year, ECCMA has been

working on a NATO project that will

develop the necessary resources to

allow the use of the eOTD (ECCMA

Open Technical Dictionary) in

CAD/CAM programs. The data used

in this project is from parts used in

the manufacture of a military vehicle.

We created eOTD Identification Guides in eotd-i-xml

from the data received and are working on creating

eotd-r-xml. Over the last couple of months, we

concentrated on creating the eotd-r-xml from the data

and should complete about 70 of them by the end of

this month. Upon completion of the project, the

eotd-i-xml and eotd-r-xml will be uploaded to the

upcoming Implementor's Area and will be available

for download by ECCMA Members. If you have any

questions with reference to eOTD xml schemas or

implementation of the eOTD, please email

.

Sheron Koshy

, ECCMA India

Over the last month we have seen

almost 6,000 terms added to the

eOTD dictionary. The additions

came from projects ECCMA is

working on as well as terms

submitted from the ECCMA

Content Standard Councils (CSC).

We currently have three CSCs

established; they are in the Natural Resource industry

(NRICSC), the Service Industry (SICSC) and the Oil

and Gas Industry OGICSC).

ECCMA is also working with Management Resource

Group (MRG) on the creation of the Maintenance,

Repair and Operations Content Standard Council

(MROCSC). MRG is planning an internal meeting at

the end of this month to start organizing the group

and to set preliminary objectives and goals. After

their meeting, ECCMA and MRG will be sending

out a press release regarding the formation of the

CSC and their plans for future development.

If you are interested in learning more about the

CSC’s or would like to participate please contact me

at

You can also contact the

Chair of each council using the contact details below.

NRICSC Max Batinti

Director, Quadrem Content Services [email protected]

+27 11 461 7200 SICSC Pieter Strydom Operations Director, Starnode

[email protected] +27 12 663 3290

OGICSC Jerry Hubbard

Executive Vice President, Energistics [email protected]

+1 (713) 294-4993 Or Dave Wallis

European Representative, OFS Portal [email protected]

+44 77 807 00782

Dan King

, ECCMA

NEWS

Sheron Koshy

(3)

October 2007 ECCMA Newsletter 3 On September 19, NATO Allied Committee 135

(AC/135) convened a meeting to review the contract to the contract to execute Phase 2 of the Smart STEP Codification (SSC2) project, an effort that will develop applications and procedures to obtain eOTD data from supplier databases and files. The meeting was held in Capellen, Luxembourg, at the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA). The prime contractor is CTC, and ECCMA and LSC Group of the United Kingdom are subcontractors. “SSC” is a term that encompasses the project AC/135 has undertaken to develop applications and procedures to obtain eOTD data from supplier databases and files. The prime contractor is CTC, and ECCMA and LSC Group of the United Kingdom are subcontractors.

AC/135 has appointed a steering group to monitor this contract, and at this meeting it was represented by: Colonel Marek Dalkowski of Poland, chairman of the steering group; George Bond of United Kingdom, chairman of AC/135; Steven Arnett of the United States; Svend-Erik Mathiasen of Denmark; Serge Desvergez of France; and Gilles Vergnerie of NAMSA. Mr. Vergnerie of NAMSA manages this contract on behalf of AC/135. Representing the contractor side were Peter Benson, executive director of ECCMA, Dr. Gerald Radack, chief

computer scientist of CTC, and Dr. Timothy King of LSC Group. The day began with a presentation by Mr. Arnett in which he reviewed the status of the eOTD project and the ISO Standards 22745, 29002, and 8000 that will help ensure the quality of data.

The SSC2 project has three aspects that are important to the future of eOTD:

Patria Case Study – This study involved applying the principles of eOTD and ISO 22745 to an actual weapons system, the ROSOMAK Armored Modularized Vehicle designed in Finland by Patria Inc. and being produced in Poland for Polish forces. Because the system is being produced in Poland for Polish forces, the project has involved close cooperation between the eOTD/ISO project team and the Finland and Poland National Codification Bureaus (NCBs). CTC delivered the case study several weeks before the September 19 meeting, so AC/135 had had plenty of time to review it. While the study showed overall success of this project, it also highlighted the challenges the eOTD team will face in obtaining master data from supplier files.

eOTD Application Guide – ECCMA has drafted a comprehensive document that shows National Codification Bureaus and suppliers how to code and exchange master data in eOTD format. The Steering Group was generally satisfied with the draft, but suggested it be divided into two documents, one for NCBs and one for suppliers. Partly as a result of the work the team has done with Patria, the eOTD/ISO team emphasized that the focus for obtaining supplier data has shifted from Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and design engineering data to

Product Data Management (PDM) systems.

Smart STEP Codification Conversion Tool – LSC Group’s role in this project is to develop an application to convert eOTD-r-XML master data into Modified Segment V (MSV) format. This conversion tool is being developed to make it easier for National Codification Bureaus to process data derived from eOTD into their systems. It will also be available to vendors of NCS software like ESG and AURA. “Segment V” is the coded form of descriptive data used in the NCS. In addition to its technical advantages, having an MSV will provide bureaus with a higher comfort level regarding eOTD data because it looks much like that data they already work with every day. Dr. King presented a prototype of the conversion tool at the meeting that showed it is on track to be fully developed and delivered before the contract expires.

By the end of the meeting, the steering group had reached consensus that a solid foundation has been laid for meeting the goals of the SSC2 contract. A final contract review will occur just prior to the AC/135 Main Group meeting in Athens, Greece, on November 5.

Mr. Arnett is the deputy chief of the United States NCB at the Defense Logistics Information Service and is a member of the eOTD/ISO project team. He can be reached at [email protected].

The logo for Smart

STEP Codification The logo of AC/135 ROSOMAK AMV

By: Steven Arnett

Smart STEP Codification Meeting

Held in Luxembourg

Smart STEP Codification Meeting

Held in Luxembourg

(4)

ECCMA Member Profile

Q: Other Professional Organizations with which you are involved: UNSPSC.org, Energetics, eCl@ss, SAP Developer Network

Q: Describe your career path. How did you get to where you are today?

I started my career in a data digitization and conversion company which eventually evolved into a catalog management services provider. I held various positions in op-erations, deliveries, marketing and technology. It helped me to be exposed to the ser-vice needs of clients from different verticals who had unique data quality problems. I joined Griha Soft in 2003 and since been working as a CTO.

Q: What about your particular career path do you find is of most value in your role as a cataloger?

I would say it is the variety of projects that I had the opportunity to work on since the beginning of my career. I witnessed the growth and consolidation of several catalog data management standards in the past decade and the huge role played by the tech-nology in bringing them to industry.

Q: What is the biggest challenge catalogers face today?

I have noticed that often most of the clients seem to think data quality problems are something that can be fixed quickly, which is not usually the case.Also, the data is-sues often do not receive the attention they deserve in comparison to other compo-nents of e-procurement function.

Q: What is most rewarding about your job?

It is the feeling of accomplishment upon a client’s successful “go live”. Also, the op-portunity to interact with people right from the top management to those at shop floor at our customer organizations.

Q: What are your favorite outside interests? Travel, reading and spending time with family.

Q: Are you working on any projects that include the use of eOTD, if so what are they? I just completed a project with one of our associates which had extensive eOTD usage. It was for the U.S. government’s transportation arm.

Want to be Included?

If you would like to be included in a future Member Profile, please

contact [email protected].

Krishna A N Shastry

Title (Position): CTO, Griha Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Country: India

Years in Data Quality:

I have spent about seven years in catalog content management and data quality services.

“I have noticed that often most of the clients seem to

think data quality problems are something that

can be fixed quickly, which is not usually the case.”

Griha Software

Technologies Pvt.

Ltd.

#951, Vijayalakshmi Complex 24th Main, 2nd Phase J.P. Nagar, Bengaluru-560078 India www.grihasoft.com

(5)

Once again, we would like to take this time to thank everyone who has

participated in the Newsletter. All of your support and time are greatly

appreciated. We hope you will continue your participation. If you have any

questions or feedback please e

-

mail them to [email protected].

Executive Director

Peter Benson [email protected]

Chief Operating Officer

Daniel King [email protected]

Program Coordinator

Melissa Scheib [email protected]

President ECCMA India

Sheron Koshy [email protected] ECCMA 2980 Linden St. Ste. E2 Bethlehem, PA 18017 +1 610 861-5990 +1 610 861-5992 www.eccma.org

ECCMA would like to welcome some new members and acknowledge members who have renewed their 2007 membership!

We thank you for your support of open source content standards and your participation in ECCMA. We will continue to strive to fulfill

your needs as a member of the association.

Anglo American

Diageo

Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS)

Information Dynamics (Pty) Ltd

Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.

SSG Standard Solutions Group AB

United Stationers Supply Company

(6)

October 2007 ECCMA Newsletter 6

e

OTD Training Courses

ECCMA’s Executive Director, Peter Benson, will be leading eOTD training courses in 2008. The two and a half day training course will cover a review of the eOTD, ISO 22745 and ISO 8000. It will be focused on the implementation of the eOTD by application and service providers, plant managers and procurement and commodity managers. The course covers:

•

Using ISO 8000 to get the data you need

•

Using ISO 8000 to increase your market visibility

•

Defining data requirements for customer, supplier,

material, asset and service masters

•

Evaluating data quality

•

Developing a data quality plan

•

Data quality work flow

•

Identifying and resolving duplicates

•

Developing consistent ERP search strings (short descriptions)

•

Developing consistent ERP purchase order descriptions (long description)

•

Strategies for reducing free text spend and increasing contracted spend

•

Working with manufacturers and suppliers to validate data

•

Working with manufacturers and suppliers to obtain missing data

•

Mapping metadata

•

Building eOTD Identification Guides in XML

•

Generating requests for data in XML

•

Responding to requests for data in XML

•

Managing supplier enablement programs

•

Complying with ISO 8000 in order to obtain an

ECCMA 8000 Master Data Quality certificate

•

Managing an ISO 8000 certification program

About The C

_ourse

For more

information or to register for the next scheduled course please contact Peter Benson at [email protected].

Course Planning

for 2008:

India in January Mark Your Calendars!

Recently added

to our Alumni

List:

Ric Starck, Synergetics Melissa Scheib, ECCMA

2 1/2

Day

Training

Course!

The course in

cludes presen_tations, on-line demo_{nstrations as}

well as exercises an

d workshops._The course typica_{lly starts on T}

uesday at 8:30 a.m. an

d finishes Th_ursday at noon. It in_{cludes lunch}

, a training man_{ual, a CD an}

d an ECCMA Tech_{nical Short C}

ourse completion ce_rtificate.

Melissa Scheib, ECCMA

*Any additional courses will be announced in our December newsletter.

(7)

recently attended and

graduated from the

ECCMA Technical Short

Course, Improving the

Quality of Master Data.

This course was very

informative and essential to

anyone who works within a

data-centric environment. In my

specific situation, this course

demonstrated the necessity for

quality master data and the

ability to exchange data between

the Department of Defense and

commercial vendors.

ISO 8000 certification

and compliance is essential to

the quality and growth of the

business venture. Quality data

certification is no longer a

nicety, but a progressive

requirement that demands a

cohesive aligned strategy. ISO

8000 is a framework for

assessing data quality by

resolution of data element tags

and the process for identifying

the key source of the data. Each

day, more and more companies

are beginning to understand how

important data tags are and how

dangerous it is to use third party

tags.

ISO 8000 and specifically

the eOTD have matured into a

standard way of doing business.

The eOTD identifiers are in the

public domain and their

definition is searchable on the

Internet. Because of this, eOTD

is increasingly important for

companies and their data

retention policies and

procedures.

Synergetics’

Integrated Mobile

Database (IMD)

software suite has

the ability to

extract data from raw sources,

compress, index and produce

portable media versions of the

original data. The software

comes with low-level and GUI

interfaces to efficiently search

and export data. Of the export

options, EOTD-r-xml can be

selected for ISO 8000

compliance.

Synergetics

understands

the value of ISO 8000 in terms

of client satisfaction and

corporate excellence.

Synergetics supports ECCMA

and its mission to develop and

maintain open standard

dictionaries that are used to

unambiguously label

information.

By: Ric Starck

Synergetics Incorporated

Director Research &

Development – DOD

1520 S. College Avenue

Fort Collins, CO 80524

[email protected]

ECCMA member since 2006

(8)

ECCMA Member Profile

Fluffy Dempers

Title (Position): Director

Country: South Africa

Years in Cataloguing: I was involved with NATO cataloguing for approximately 30 years as a user of the standard. Since 1999 when I joined Information Dynamics, I became more intensely involved with the utilisation and management of the NATO and commercial cataloguing standards, as well as the development of solutions that support these standards.

Q: Describe your career path. How did you get to where you are today?

My main background is in military logistic management. I have managed various Airforce logistic operational support units as well as support supply, maintenance and manufacturing Depots.

Since 1999 I have been involved in the management of various content standardisation / cleansing / management projects (military & industry) as well as assisting in the development of content solutions for clients.

Q: What about your particular career path do you find is of most value in your role as a cataloguer?

Most valuable is my technical and operational background spanning all the logistic phases from development to phase-out, in both a supplier and buyer role. This exposure gave me a good understanding of the content requirements needed for the support of business processes over the total content life cycle.

Q: What is the biggest challenge cataloguers face today?

There are many challenges facing cataloguers and content managers today. The following are some of the more important ones in my view:

Descriptive Depth. Determining and cataloguing to a required descriptive depth (Item of Supply Concept) that will support and reflect the organisational needs thereof within business processes – and NOT that of an individual or cataloguer.

Shifting Priorities. Moving away from creating content as main priority to capturing, maintaining and distributing of content as the main priority, using collaboration with Manufacturers / Vendors / Suppliers to create the standard based content and capture it at source.

Content Life Cycle Management. Managing the configuration of catalogue data over the total content life cycle (aligning catalogue data with ERP / Legacy System data: -what is in the catalogue = what is needed by the organisation = what is in the ERP/ Legacy systems =what is in the warehouse = what needs to be procured=what needs to be phased out)

Collaboration of Content. Collaboration of this content to all users and relevant business processes (create once – use many times) in support of the business objectives.

Q: What is most rewarding about your job?

The implementation of a solution that empowers all users within all organisation levels to easily obtain, collaborate, analyse and manage content over its total content life cycle.

Q: Favourite outside interests?

Golf, rugby, family and outdoors, not necessarily in that order.

Q: Are you working on any projects that include the use of eOTD, if so what are they?

We have completed two projects based on eOTD in 2007. We are in the process of releasing a new Standard Based Content Management Solution and are in discussion with existing and new clients regarding their content management needs utilising the newly released solution.

Information Dynamics

(Pty) Ltd

Unit 1, 9 Pieter Street, Regency Court Highveld, Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa 0169

(9)

I m p l e m e n t i n g e O T D i n M C C ATA L O G U E

B y Z d e n

ě

k B u

ř

i v a l , M i r o s l a v M o r a v e c

B y Z d e n

ě

k B u

ř

i v a l , M i r o s l a v M o r a v e c

, A U R A , s . r. o .

ogistics is a wide-ranging discipline and requires considerable information support. AURA, s.r.o. (Ltd.) has specialized in this area from its very beginning in 1989. AURA’s first products for information support to logistics were warehouse management systems. From the early 1990s on, AURA has been focused on military logistics. Our main project for the military is the Information System for Logistics (ISL) for the Czech MoD and Armed Forces.

In the scope of the ISL project, we have developed the first version of MC CATALOGUE – the successful software tool for material codification according to the standards of the NATO Codification System (NCS). This tool is already in use by a number of NATO and non-NATO countries that have decided to implement the NCS. Systematically, we have increased our experience and expertise in NATO Codification and cataloguing to provide, besides the codification software, consultations in this area.

As a company deeply involved in all aspects of cataloguing, we clearly recognise what benefits the eOTD (ECCMA Open Technical Dictionary) could bring to all participating parties: manufacturers, supplier and users of codified products. Bringing the cataloguing process closer to manufacturers not only speeds it up and simplifies it, but also significantly contributes to the quality of cataloguing data. To be prepared for implementation of eOTD standards in NATO Codification, our MC CATALOGUE has implemented the feature for importing codification data produced in the eOTD-r-xml format.

These data are then imported to MC CATALOGUE with all possible validations and verifications. The result is shown on the following screens:

Source XML data contain many identifiers and it is necessary to receive corresponding names from the eOTD. MC CATALOGUE is able to access ECCMA Web Services to obtain these data and to cache them in an internal storage. We plan to enrich MC CATALOGUE with some new functions in the near future. One of them is the import and usage of the offline eOTD (in case the NCB network is not connected to the Internet). Another is the import of the eOTD-i-xml (XML FIIGs) to allow codifiers to answer MRCs faster and more effectively.

We plan to continue promoting and improving implementation of the eOTD in our software products and services. The next planned step is testing these new features together with one of the larger Czech manufacturers.

For further information contact Mr. Zdenek Burival,

(10)

Pi-log, a leader in cataloguing technology, has signed a deal in Russia on the strength of their latest Pi-Log Ramis Master Data Management software. The sophisticated new software addresses cross border communication barriers with its multi-language capability.

The Pi-log software caters to global corporations that need to manage data across languages. It is the world’s first practical implementation of the Electronic Open Technical Dictionary (eOTD) that provides language translations in a commercial off-the-shelf master data management solution. International global companies with a central standardisation drive require a solution across the normal language and alphabet barriers, so that users can work on a single solution simultaneously. They need to enter and view data in their native language and alphabet and have

the capacity to search and compare items across languages and alphabets. The underlying model of the eOTD is designed specifically for this capability. “Usage is simple,” says Wynand Nortjé, Technical Director of Pi-Log International. “With its strong

translation model, all that’s required for the software to work successfully is a set of eOTD Implementation Guides that is translated into all the required

languages.”

The software is also unique in that multiple

languages with different alphabets can be used for both the system prompts as well as in the data. For example, both the Russian alphabet as well as the standard Latin alphabet can be used for the European languages.

PI-LOG RELEASES MULTI- LANGUAGE eOTD VERSION OF RAMIS

CATALOGUE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

3 September 2007

Data Qua

(11)

Nortjé noted that this release of the software was particularly challenging. “The simultaneous display of the different alphabets on the same screen in an interactive manner presented a unique set of problems that had to be solved. Furthermore, the underlying algorithms have to operate faultlessly, regardless of the language or alphabet used by the cataloguer. The powerful search technology also had to be expanded to search and compare items across the language and alphabet borders.”

In a recent demonstration of the software to a Moscow-based global company, Pi-Log demonstrated the software in Russian, French, Italian, German and English. By utilizing the eOTD in these languages, users could catalogue data in the system in their native languages. Upon completion of the cataloguing process, the data was immediately available in all other selected languages.

Continued from previous page

Anna Shevchenko, project manager of the Russian Client and Wynand Nortjé discussing some details of the P-Log Ramis software.

Thank You Joe Cassel

The ECCMA Board of Directors and Staff would like to thank Joe Cassel for serving as an ECCMA Director.

Joe regrettably resigned from the ECCMA Board as his new appointment with DLA does not allow him to

serve on any external boards.

ECCMA started working with Joe when he was the Commander at the Defense Logistics Information

Service (DLIS). Joe retired from the Marines after 25 years of service and was highly commended for his

outstanding leadership and management skills. Joe joined Electronic Data Systems (EDS) Corporation where

he has served as the Program Manager for Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support (DMLSS). While at

EDS Joe introduced ECCMA to the EDS leadership and drew their attention to the opportunities to use the

eOTD and the associated ISO standards in data integration projects where data quality was an issue.

Joe has been selected to lead the J6 Information Operations lead (www.dla.mil/j-6/) at New

Cumberland, PA, with information management and information technology responsibility for the Defense

Distribution Center effort covering 26 major sites worldwide. Joe's in-depth IT background, coupled with his

ability to bring out the best in those that work with him will prove to be an invaluable asset.

Again, we would like to thank Joe for his support and dedication to open standards and we wish him

the best of luck in his new position with DLA at New Cumberland.

Call For New Board of Director

Any member in good standing may apply for appointment to the Board

of Directors. The directors sign an Oath of Office on their appointment; they

are listed on the ECCMA website and provided with an ECCMA email address.

The Directors are responsible for the development of ECCMA policy and work

directly with the Executive Director. The Directors currently hold a quarterly

telephone conference call (Tuesday 9:30-10:30 EST) limited to one hour.

If you would be interested in serving on the ECCMA board, please send

ECCMA a copy of your resume for circulation to the Directors or contact the

office at (610) 861-5990.

(12)

Poor master and catalogue data descrip-tions are a root cause of process malfunc-tions and asset mismanagement. Without a consistent and standards-based data man-agement process, your purchasing organi-zation can't find the needed information to accurately order. The result? "Guesswork" purchase orders that lead to:

Obsolete and duplicate materials

Longer order fulfillment cycles

Higher inventory, equipment

mainte-nance and procurement costs

Lower plant and equipment

availabil-ity

Inability to perform better spend

analysis for on- or off-contract items

Inability to increase procurement

ad-vantages and effectiveness through volume purchasing and increased leverage on ven-dors

Inability and failure of applications to

transmit data seamlessly application-to-application requiring continued manual intervention that only adds to the cost of doing business

High volumes of materials being

re-turned to the vendor or the warehouse because the item or material is incorrect or the incorrect quantity has been delivered High incidence of OEM purchases rather than through general suppliers

Inadequate material descriptions also cre-ate frustration for purchasing professionals trying to meet their customers' needs. They can't find the right materials and supplies through accepted channels. So, to get the job done, they resort to "maverick" pur-chasing from suppliers outside the scope of negotiated strategic contracts.

The way in which a company creates, man-ages, uses and stores master data and cata-logue information directly affects its bot-tom line profits, and is critical to improv-ing productivity, reducimprov-ing costs and sup-porting compliance. During most ERP implementations and upgrades, system integrators exclude MRO Master Data and Catalogue cleansing from their scope and responsibility. As a result, most companies face one of the greatest risk factors of the project: Without good, clean data, ERP implementations/upgrades will fail.

“Data quality is a business issue and business leadership needs to take responsibility for the iden-tification of data quality issues, establishing mini-mum acceptable levels of data quality and facilitat-ing data quality improvement initiatives. Organi-zations must stop looking solely at IT for resolu-tion of data quality issues, and IT must educate the business about where accountability should lie. Research demonstrates that too often the charge is being let by IT alone, leading to limited funding and business engagement.”

Data Management Study “Gartner” April 2006 - Ted Friedman

The Benefits of Good Quality Master Data and Catalogues

Increase contract compliance by 20%

Ability to determine and procure the required part or product with certainty

Reduced maverick and free text pur-chases

Ability to track and monitor supplier performance against contract and delivery compliance of orders placed

Increased visibility across the

enter-prise with regards to search, spend and rationalization oppor-tunities

Increase service levels by 20%

Have the correct part or product in stock and delivered at the needed time

Curb false stock-outs (when the ERP indicates nil stock on hand, and stock is in inventory)

Reduction in expedited orders and associated costs (normally arising from poor visibility and stock outs)

Reducing the risk of plant downtime Optimized use of ERP “Search,

In-ventory, Financial” modules

Decrease Inventory Costs by up to 15% ~ If you know what you are buying then you can:

Buy only the correct materials Buy only what will be consumed Reduce the number of materials

on-hand

Decrease Carrying Costs

Reduce invoicing issues

Standardise data to meet ERP and stra-tegic sourcing initiatives

Eliminate orders for duplicate or obso-lete materials

Shorten order fulfillment times Avoid errors that cause repeat

ship-ments

Prevent situations that cause off-contract spending

Quadrem Data Solutions

By: Massimo Batinti,

Quadrem

t some point in time we all have had to struggle with inconsistent, incomplete and non-comparable item descriptions. This may have been a personal online shopping experience or, perhaps, one more critical – such as the identification and procurement of spare parts to support the production assets for your company. The impact of “dirty” data to a company’s operations is significant. For example, industry experience has shown that 10-15 percent of the items procured are duplicated or substitutable items within the operations. If more was known about the materials procured, the quantity and expense of a significant portion of procurement activities could be reduced.

(13)

Reduce the cost of data creation and management

Solving the Challenges of Master and Catalogue Data Creation and Management

Whether your data resides on a hosted catalogue or within your ERP system, Quadrem is able to deliver high-quality data that conforms to your defined descriptive patterns, class codes and other internal requirements. Quadrem will help you lay a foundation of consistent, standards-based data, so you can aggregate information for spend analysis — and eliminate order errors, post-purchase reconciliations, returns, and off-contract purchasing.

Typically, legacy data is “free-form” having evolved over time and through a combination of catalogue philosophies or approaches and, perhaps in the course of merger or acquisition, of multiple sources. Most company’s legacy data is comprised of tens if not hundreds of thousands of records – and each one must be reviewed, evaluated and standardised in order to ensure a homogeneous master data – free of duplication and ambiguity.

Quadrem’s services are provided utilizing either a “Cradle to Grave” methodology or one where only the required services are provided and tailor-made to suite your unique operating environment.

Consulting services — Quadrem analyzes your current master and catalogue data and will help you draft a plan for optimisation, classification and implementation.

Schema selection and customisation services — Quadrem assists with selection, customisation and enhancement of classifica-tion, cataloguing and codification schemas.

Data creation, maintenance and manipulation — Quadrem will realign legacy data to the adopted standard and create new ma-terial masters as needed, as well as provide ongoing maintenance services.

Data enhancement — Quadrem researches and completes missing item data with information required to describe the item in accordance with the adopted schema.

Data consolidation (MDM) — Quadrem enables you to consolidate multiple data streams for disparate ERPs and truly manage the data at the Enterprise level.

Standards and languages — Quadrem delivers data solution to a wide range of markets in various languages, using different standards:

Data types include, material masters, service masters, vendor masters and mnemonics as well as hosted catalogues Languages include, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Italian

Standards include, eOTD (ECCMA Open Technical Dictionary), SMD (Standard Modifier Dictionary), NATO, UNSPSC (United Nations Standard Product & Service Code), eCl@ss, FSC, NAICS, UN/ECE (United Nations Economic Commis-sion for Europe), as well as customer specific internal standards.

Leverage the expertise of an industry leader

For more than 6 years, Quadrem has worked with organizations like yours to implement successful eBusiness initiatives. We’ve estab-lished processes that solve data complexities and enable both suppliers and buyers around the world to load and manage standardised data accurately.

Quadrem continues to play a leadership role in eBusiness organizations such as Electronic Commerce Code Management Association (ECCMA) and Commerce Net. Quadrem was also one of the first companies in the world to create its own Standards Council, a process now followed by other global organizations as a commercial best to ensure that messaging, business process and security standards will meet the business needs of today and endure the test of time.

“

(14)

Issue

Closing Date

Issue

Closing Date

Issue

Closing Date

December 17 December 10 February 18 February 11 April 21 April 14

Newsletter

We Want To Hear From You

Want to send in your cataloging projects, news or tips to share with other readers? We’d love to hear from you! Here’s how to get involved:

Send your materials by mail or e-mail.

Upon receipt of materials they will be reviewed. We will let you know if we use something you submitted. Materials that do not fit in the Newsletter may be considered for our website.

Send submissions to: ECCMA, 2980 Linden St. Ste E2, Bethlehem, Pa. 18017 or e-mail them to

[email protected]. If you have a particular

month you want to be featured in, please print on front of the envelope or type it in the subject line of your e-mail message.

ISO TC 184/SC 4

2008-03-02/07

2009-03-01/06

The ISO dates are subject to confirmation by the committee.

ECCMA Master Data Quality Conference

2008-10-14/16

2009-10-13/15

The 2009 ECCMA conference will be our 10th_{anniversary so make}

sure you add the date on your calendar as you won’t want to miss it!