Master Data Management

Yes, we now have added the ability to create master data right in Intellimas!  Imagine the possibilities you now have to leverage this breakthrough feature by adding new master data instead of relying on another system from which to retrieve it.   Here are a few examples as to how this can work in your organization:

1. Initiating Styles (Line Planning)

Some companies do not want to create styles in their PLM or ERP system until after a sample review or approval process.  Prior to that point, these potential styles may be found on a spreadsheet or represented in a series of sketches.  We can create a Master Data Entity that allows users to plan out their line and have styles exist only in Intellimas until the time comes to adopt them or make them 'live'.  Once they are live, we can push them to your PLM or ERP system and the product life cycle can begin.  

2. PO Data Entry

You have styles and now you want to initiate purchase orders for them, but your ERP system does not allow you to collaborate with your vendors or is very inflexible to work with.  Why not use an Intellimas Master Data Entity to initiate those PO records.  Intellimas can generate a sequential PO number or you can just manually input it.  You can then select styles for the PO, which we will retrieve from your PLM or ERP system, and then add quantities, prices, terms, and other required information.  You can now release these PO's to the vendor.  Once those purchases are confirmed, integration can be configured to send those PO's to your ERP system.  One other thing to think about is that this entity could possibly be used as a staging area for purchases.

3. Validated Data

When we create Intellimas entities, we receive many requirements for drop-down fields.  In order to create this field type, we need a source table.  Sometimes this table does not exist or would require a lot of data scrubbing in the source system.   Now, utilizing the Master Data Entities, you can create a validation table and house all those values in one place, managed by an administrator.  This validation entity can then be used in any other entities, or in other systems for that matter.

Conclusion: As always, we find that our customers discover many more creative ways to use the features of Intellimas, and Master Data Entities will be no exception. Let us put together a demo for you to show you the possibilities.  

Intellimas has always had the ability to add dropdown validated fields, but we now have the ability to select multiple values within a dropdown; a Multi-Select Dropdown.  The configuration of these User Defined fields is just as easy as any other dropdown, except now we have a flag which indicates that you want to 'allow multiple selections'.  This a huge advancement because many times when we model our entities, the data we need to retrieve can come from various sources and require a one to many relationship.  Rather than creating a new level in the entity for this, we can use the Multi-Select Dropdown.  An example of this is the concept of deliveries.  Most companies can have many deliveries for a style color.  We can now allow you to represent those deliveries in one field at the style color level.