In intralogistics, master data, also known as primary data or reference data, is data that contains operationally relevant information. This includes information about products, suppliers and customers, for example. Individual data is assigned to an article master, customer master and supplier master. The master records can be managed in simple files or also within a business application software.
The contents that an article master can contain are:
- Article number
- Article description
- Article image
- Article category
- Dimensions and weight of the article
- Strategies for storage and retrieval
Content that a customer base can contain is
- Customer name
- Customer or delivery address
- Industry
- Bank account
Contents that a supplier master record can contain are:
- Name of the supplier
- Address of the supplier
- Conditions
Some properties can be assigned to master data. They are characterized by the fact that they are often used within a company across departments and on a long-term basis. They are also used as criteria for evaluations of products, customers and suppliers.
A good master data management supports the efficient use of warehouse management software.
More information about a warehouse management system can be found in the article “The evolution towards modern warehouse management.”
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