Master Data Management as Cornerstone of the Data-Driven Enterprise

Industry: Industrial Machinery and Components

Products: Engineering components, LEAN 4.0 products, warehouse and intralogistics automation, intelligent system solutions in the production environment

Employees: 400+ worldwide (2021)

Headquarters: Spalt, Germany

Turnover: approx. EUR 35.4 million euros (2021)

Website: www.fath24.de

Transformation and progress

FATH – a company based in Spalt, Bavaria. This is where the headquarters, central logistics, and product development are located and many of the FATH components are manufactured. Around 400 employees make a significant contribution to the development of an industrial ecosystem where intelligent component and system solutions for conveyor and sorting systems are developed and produced, among other things. FATH is a thoroughly innovative company, keen to maintain its market position. However, whether a company succeeds in mastering digital transformation depends on how well it manages its data. Progress requires a consistent data and innovation strategy.

Consistent data strategy as the foundation for innovation

Data has always played a key role. Numerous enterprises are putting great effort into becoming data-driven companies and utilizing their own data inventories to realize new potentials in their business processes. FATH too recognized the importance of efficient Master Data Management (MDM) and joint forces with NTT DATA Business Solutions to set up a consistent, comprehensive data and process model within the organization. Looking to create permanently high quality as well as lean, automated data processes, the partners initiated the first steps. Initially, a two-day MDM workshop entitled it.excellence was held. First, the significance of data was explained before conducting a detailed SWOT analysis. This involved a close inspection of the existing IT landscape and data flows, after which initiatives were determined, rated by priority. This yielded the first strategic key points and identification of potential error sources.

it.mds as Key to Clean Master Data

In the course of the it.excellence workshop, new potentials crystallized. This included the realization that a tool for successful data management was required. A decision was quickly taken to go for the add-on it.mds* to cover the area of material & business partners. Not only does the patented software technology offer FATH a 360° view of material master data, it also provides rule-based data management. Numerous internal workflows, such as those involved in the administration, consolidation, and harmonization of all master data, are now managed via a single, centrally integrated solution. This significantly enhances master data quality and reduces the time and cost for manual data maintenance by up to 95%. The need for costly and time-consuming troubleshooting is therefore a thing of the past.

Future-proof master data management organization

Based on a number of workshops focusing on the vision, philosophy, organization, structure, data governance, as well as key figures, greater agility and transparency in the data handling were achieved. This has provided a solid basis for future decision-making as well as process developments. The Master Data Management is acting as a first milestone on the journey to establishing a data-driven decision-making culture at FATH and clears the way for future innovations. High data quality and availability enable a fast response to market changes as well as enormous cost savings. The steps taken at FATH have achieved the aims of data process automation and sustained enhancement of data quality, entirely in line with the motto of “Simplification, automation, and validation”.

*it.mds is now called GLASSWING. Get to know our master data management solution here.