Protiviti helps client save millions through improved master data management

Change Requested

Our client, as a subsidiary of one of the leading U.S. agriculture co-ops, had expanded rapidly over recent years through both acquisitions and organic growth, and was in the midst of a multiyear ERP implementation that consumed internal resources and required backfilling of those positions. The company also had to address a number of critical challenges, including payment penalties, high inventory and disgruntled vendors, among other issues. Due to our responsiveness and synergy between sister divisions, which included Robert Half Management Resources and Robert Half staffing, Protiviti was selected to support the client’s day-to-day processing of electronic data interchange (EDI) errors, and to document the current state of the company’s data management processes.

​An organization’s data is essential to its success, yet as companies generate more and more data every day, the ability to access, manage and transform that data into valuable business intelligence becomes more difficult by the hour. MDM helps organizations gain a single view of their data across the enterprise to ensure consistency, control and ongoing maintenance of critical information, including customer, account and product data.

Change Envisioned

To lead the MDM effort and to provide staff augmentation, Protiviti’s team undertook the following project approach:

• Phase 1 – Current state process assessment: Our experts first sought to uncover challenges and issues to determine the current state of policies and procedures related to the subsidiary’s MDM. We quantified workload and identified the required work steps to onboard our Protiviti and Robert Half professionals.
• Phase 2 – Onboarding and training: We consulted with our Robert Half counterparts to identify contractor resources for staff augmentation, which accomplished the task of processing existing data management workload (EDI error handling).
• Phase 3 – Current state operations and improvement: Our experts conducted day-to-day operations for EDI error handling and created current state master data documentation. This included process maps, master data object matrices and application/interface matrices.

Change Delivered

​At the close of the project, Protiviti provided the client with full documentation of its master data (e.g., item master and vendor master). System improvements include fewer processing errors, reduced system downtime and less time required to train new employees such as customer service representatives.
 
Additional results included:

• Remediated and processed approximately 300 outstanding invoices totaling nearly $1 million in revenue.
• Identified nine missing invoices totaling approximately $1 million in revenue.
• Identified process improvement opportunities to automate sales order error-processing and new item setup.
• In addition, one B2B partner of our client experienced an 83 percent decrease in invoice errors, while another enjoyed a 92 percent reduction.

How We Help Companies Succeed

According to a recent survey, CFOs believe their staffs spend limited time providing advanced analytical services to their organizations. The Financial Executive International annual report indicated that well over half of their respondents plan to spend money to address the need for better information – confirming data management is a significant issue impacting many companies.
 
Protiviti understands that a company’s data is its lifeblood for competing and succeeding in the market. We help our clients with the entire information lifecycle, including strategy, management and reporting, to ensure decision-makers have the right information at the right time.
 
Companies with any of the following indicators may benefit from our services:

• Data quality concerns or information errors in reports and source systems
• System downtime driven by unplanned or unexplained changes to data or systems
• Inability to pull key financial and other information out of enterprise systems