Classification, Automation and Technical Dictionaries

[Former Member]

I Got a question on MDM.

The scenario is like this. I want to enrich my database on materials and make it work as a "single version of truth". I got databases from ERP, PLM, CRM etc and I have taken the required attributes from all of these into my MDM for consolidation.

So, my material master in MDM now contains,

a. Deep product attributes (from PLM),

b. Accounting/production information about the material (from ERP),

c. Labeling/ handling information (from PLM),

d. Brand information (from CRM).

So, I believe this material master (which is in MDM) will be a good central repository for all my analytics.

Now, I want to classify these materials and add extra attributes to it to make it more extensive. So, one option is to get a person to sit on this master file(in MDM) and add more information into it. But, the no. of records come to around 1 million which acts as a major block.

So, what are my options now to automate the process?

In short,

1. I want to automatically classify the materials according to an external schema (like UNSPSC, Eclass)

2. I want to add more material information according to an external dictionary.

3. Also, I want to know what are the Technical Dictionaries available for different industries? (Eg: for CPF>GS1, for Electronic/IT>RosettaNet)

4. Also, I don't think the standard classification will be enough for my materials. I may have to add my own classification schemas to the standard schema.

5. Is there a standard schema/dictionary available for, lets say chemicals/MRO industry?

Thanks in advance.

With Warm Regards,

Nishant Kallullathil

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Nishant ,

Your query is an interesting one and this is what many of the businesses would look for while making their material master enriched one and single version of truth . There are schema available like UNSPSC ,eClass to help you with the classification and there are many tools available e.g.Zycus,silver creek system etc which does this job and the process is entirely automated .there are instances where more than a million records have been processes without any problem .

In this case what you need to do is send these records to these tools and take the output as classified data into your system where you want to use /say MDM repository . Some of these tools I know about have a very strong integration with external dictionaries .

for MRO UNSPSC schema would be good enough to cater to the requirement , I am telling this from my experience while managing MRO data .

For adding your own schema you would need some kind of an external interface to do this and I am not sure at this point of time ,if SAP MDM while integrated with EP can help do this .

Hope I have been able to clarify ..

Regards,

Amit

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Amit,

That was a very detailed and helpful answer. Thank you for that...!

I got a little more clarifications on the Dictionary part. Is it possible to add material attributes with the help of a dictionary? i.e I will be able to classify the materials with the help of Zycus. But will I be able to enrich the atributes of the material(say an MRO material like solenoid valve) also?

Also, is there any Standard dictionaries/classifications existing for other industry segments? Like chemicals/ pharma/ automotive?

Again thanking you for the answer.

with Best Regards,

Nishant

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Nishant,

Have you tried evaluating the JAVA APIs toward this purpose. I believe most of your requirements should be met by writing a Java Program to do the following

1. Classifying the records to the Right Taxonomies

2. Enrich data into the fields from some data source or from another table

Regards,

Pavan

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Pavan,

Sorry for the delay in replying. The reply link didn't work last few days.

1. I am planning to take some solutions which are already there in market since it may need AI or high domain knowledge for a particular industry.

2. My problem now is that, I am unable to find out already defined technical dictionaries which can be used for defining the atributes. Somthing like the dicionaries given by GS1 for Food & Bev, Office supplies. But I am unable to find one for auto industries etc.

Thank you very much for your reply

Regards,

Nishant

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Nishant ,

If your requirement is to enrich only MRO data then i dont think there would be much difference in the dictionary used for multiple industries rather they would be more or less same . and if that is the case then any standard classification e.g. UNSPSC along with some AI based tool should suffice . e.g. solenoid valve is an MRO item and it may come under electrical and elctronics accessories and other realted attributes could be Voltage , current rating etc ...As you may know UNSPSC is the contributuion from all industry and it has the classification ability for most of MRO items

if you are looking for say material/parts used in Auto Industry then a dictionary might be available which I am not aware of but MRO requirement should be met with the tool based approach

Hope this helps

Regards,

Amit

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Amit,

Thank you for the reply.

I have decided to use UNSPSC and the dictionaries available for the MRO requirement. I got RosettaNet for the electronic components. .

I will update you when I get any more information on the dictionaries for the other industries.

Thanks again.

With Best Regards,

Nishant

[Former Member]

Hi,

I changed the subject and put the same stuff under Subject "Data Standardization and MDM". Please refer the new one.

Nishant