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Ascend’s journey to higher quality material master data

Ocal YilmazGlobal MDM Leader

Ascend Performance Materials

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Introduction

The Challenge

The Solution

Benefits, Lessons Learned & Future Plans

Q&A

Agenda

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Ascend Performance Materials

Who we are

• PA66 manufacturer for more than 60 years

• Company headquarters in Houston, Texas; regional offices in Belgium and China

• Five world-scale plants in the United States; local compounding of plastics in all regions

Our Vision

• To be the recognized leader in the nylon 6,6 value chain, creating solutions that inspire every one, everywhere, every day

The world’s largest fully integrated producer of PA66 resin

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About me

• Houston, TX

• Global MDM Leader in Ascend since March 2015

• 17 years of professional experience in managing projects related to master data management, data governance, data quality, procurement and supply chain management.

• Implemented SAP solutions in numerous industries such as upstream oil-gas, chemicals, distribution, high tech, contract manufacturing, medical devices, and pharmaceutical.

• Soccer

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Challenge facedProblem Statement:

• Data quality problems leading to downstream issues (Shipping, Order processing, Analytics).

• Process inefficiency due to lack of discrete approval workflow and segregation of duties.

• Compliance issues due to manual master data processes.

• Cost and inability of enhancing custom master data process.

• IT Capital Investment – Vistex, CRM, APO and new P&L all reliant on good master data.

Project Objective:

A2E (six sigma) expert project to improve master data quality, provide a process orchestration solution for better master data governance, reduce rework and hours spent in master data maintenance, and improve cycle time.

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The Solution• Ascend solution is built on Winshuttle Foundation product (v11.2)

Start build: Feb 2017

Go-live: July 2017

• Studio Query is used to update key SAP tables in SQL

• Master data processes:

o Create, Reinstate, Extend, Change, Flag for deletion

• Material types:

o Finished, Semi-finished, Raw, Packaging

• Search functionality

• Rule based approval routing

• Duplicate check (create scenario)

• Inventory level check (deletion scenario)

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Ascend MDG - Material

• Dashboard: all request types are under Form Library.

• Tasks: assigned workflow tasks are in “Tasks” tab.

• Processes: process history, reassign process to someone else.

• Reports: Assignment Status and Process Status standard reports.

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Process History & Edit Process

• “Process History” shows all the assigned swim-lanes and status of each task (Assigned, Approved, Rejected, Completed).• “Edit” can be used to reassign a task to someone else.

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Search functionality

• Multiple search criteria is available to find the reference material.• Using reference material improves data quality and shortens data entry process.

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SKU Governance Form

• High level SKU information, business case justification for “Business approvals”.• Key attributes determines approvers in the workflow.• Hierarchy maintenance using cascading drop-down lists built with different “Queries”.

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Expected Benefits

• Create master data correctly at first time, and avoid data quality issues and rework.

• Faster cycle time for master data setup; increased productivity across all Ascend functions.

• Improved MDM FTE productivity, more focus on process improvement, data quality improvement projects.

• Generate more accurate enterprise wide reports leveraging consistent master data.

• Audit trail for change, approval tracking.

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MetricsCycle time for Material Master creation: process efficiency measure.

Step Description Duration

Business case form creation Requestor completes “SKU governance form” (word) 2-3 days

Manual Approvals Requestor distributes the form and obtains email approvals 5-8 days

Request creation in SAP Master Scheduler creates request in SAP ECC 1-2 days

MDM processing MDM team processes error-free request in SAP 1-2 days

Transportation Compliance Transportation compliance manager reviews 2-3 days

Costing step Site Cost accountant completes costing 5-7 days

Total 16-25 days

Before

Automated workflow routing and better traceability shortens the cycle time by 2 weeks (~ 50%)

Go-live:

July 2017

Step Duration

Request creation 1 day

Business Approvals 2-3 days

Data Enrichment 1-2 days

MDM processing 1 day

Transportation Compliance 1 day

Costing step 2-6 days

Total 8-14 days

After

# of Updates in key Material attributes: rework/data quality issue measure

# updates in key material master attributes (monthly):

Before After Winshuttle Foundation

Baseline (monthly average): 750 July: 153August: 163

The better we govern “Creation” of Master Data; the less rework and data quality issues we will have (reduced by 75+ %)

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Lessons learnedProject Planning:

• Plan and request for specific “proof-of-concept” to understand Foundation capabilities.o Determine “Quick wins” vs. “Longer term”

o Phased approach for costly and complex development

Training:

• Plan for multiple end-user training sessions per role/swim-lane.o Better adoption and learning curve

Development:

• Early engagement with functional unit test, and learn technical design & developmento Increased confidence and early ownership of the solution

• Understand and document “troubleshooting guidelines” o Help Ascend team to better prepare for post go-live.

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What’s next

Winshuttle Foundation road-map:

✓Enhancements project after initial Material Master go-live (by end of 2017)

✓MRO (HIBE) materials request, workflow approval process (by end of 2017)

✓Customer master project (by end of Q1 2018)

✓Vendor master project (by end of Q2 2018)

✓BOM governance, Costing governance, Commercial Hierarchy, New Plant setup process, Supplier Qualification process,… (after 2018).

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Q&A