Product Catalog Management (PCM):
PCM focuses on highly-structured data (attributes such as measurements, features and benefits text, list price, images) of any product that need to be published , and thus have to be enlisted in a catalog to make it available to the end user . PCM data does not imply transactional data (data about a specific order, inventory, or specific customer pricing), but may include supplier and sourcing information. This product information need to be stored in a centralised container with a single version ensured. SAP Master Data Management Extension (MDME) is a complete solution for structured product content management. The components of content management, catalog publishing, importing and exporting have been designed and rigorously developed to meet the demands of the most sophisticated manufacturing and distribution businesses. It should be understood that the goal of MDM-PCM implementation is to create the “single version of the truth” for Product Content Management. This means that MDME should be the master repository for the majority of product data.
Landscape
Centralized Repository for MDM-PCM:
Need:
single version of truth in product information is very essential for an augmented and streamlined product management process. The home grown legacy solution, involving a custom DBMS may be supporting well but just may be overlooking the downpour of complicacies through disparate ownership in the company. Numerous owners and departments create and disseminate data, and many different tools and processes are used. It is broadly accepted that the practices in place in many of these areas are inefficient and not optimized.Due to the number of data sources and fragmentation of the data, selling opportunities are lost because product relationships are not apparent or readily available.
Solution :
The recommended solution is to bring all data from the current DBMS and other related data sources such as the replacement parts information into MDME. Data modelling is an essential part of this process and data stewards will be involved for this. The central repository is built, keeping the following points in mind :
1) Current state of data.
2) Scope of cleansing required.3) Business process re-engineering that might be required.
