Building a Stronger Healthcare Supply Chain Through Master Data Governance
A global healthcare company, committed to empowering healthier lives worldwide, delivers access to medicines, drives sustainable operations, and invests in innovation to improve patient outcomes. The organization provides a wide range of medicines, including generics, branded drugs, biosimilars, and over-the-counter products, serving patients and healthcare providers across multiple regions. With a strong focus on research, development, and operational excellence, the company has established itself as a trusted partner in healthcare worldwide.
As the company scaled its operations globally, challenges in managing material master data began to emerge. Manual creation processes, regional inconsistencies, and lack of governance led to inefficiencies, data duplication, and limited visibility into critical supply chain information. To address these complexities and enhance oversight, the organization implemented Cherrywork Master Data Governance to establish standardized processes, strengthen data control, and improve consistency across its material data management.
As the company scaled its operations globally, the creation and management of material master data remained largely manual, which led to frequent errors and duplications. Each material record had to be manually entered, reviewed, and validated, creating multiple touchpoints where mistakes could occur. Duplicate entries caused confusion in procurement, inventory management, and order fulfillment, sometimes resulting in incorrect shipments, delays, or stock discrepancies. Manual reconciliation across different systems consumed significant employee time and effort, increasing operational costs and slowing down decision-
making. Inaccurate or inconsistent data also impacted reporting accuracy, limited insights into supply chain performance, and reduced confidence in financial and operational decisions.
Compounding these challenges were regional process variations and a lack of clear governance, which made it difficult to enforce standardized procedures, maintain accountability, and ensure consistent data quality. Without centralized oversight, errors propagated across systems, limiting visibility into critical supply chain information and making it harder to leverage global sourcing opportunities. From a business perspective, the organization required a standardized, centralized, and controlled approach to material master data management to improve accuracy, streamline processes, and maintain operational efficiency across geographies.
Cherrywork Master Data Governance significantly reduced manual effort and minimized the risk of errors. Automated workflows ensured consistent data capture across all entries, while rules-based validations enforced governance standards, preventing frequent duplications. Integrated risk management proactively flagged inconsistencies and potential conflicts, allowing issues to be addressed before they impacted downstream processes. Structured approval flows defined ownership and accountability at every stage, ensuring that all data entries were verified and validated before finalization. Consequently, the organization gained greater control over its material data, minimized rework, and improved the overall efficiency and reliability of the master data creation process.
Centralized control was achieved by connecting the workflows seamlessly with the SAP ERP system, allowing real-time access to material data across regions and business units. Duplicate records and inconsistencies were systematically eliminated, transactional errors minimized, and inefficiencies caused by regional process variances addressed. Through these measures, the material master data management function was transformed into a reliable, efficient, and insight-driven operation, ensuring data accuracy, governance, and visibility while supporting scalable, compliant, and streamlined supply chain operations.
The implementation of the solution brought measurable improvements to material master data management across the organization. Manual effort was significantly reduced, transactional errors minimized, and duplicate records were completely eliminated, ensuring 100% consistency and accuracy across all material entries. Real-time access to material data enabled finance, procurement, and supply chain teams to make faster, more informed decisions, improving operational efficiency and reporting reliability.
Standardized workflows and structured approvals strengthened governance, clarified ownership, and embedded accountability at every stage of data management. Integrated risk management proactively prevented inconsistencies before they affected downstream operations. As a result, the organization achieved 100% streamlined data governance, 0% data duplication, and a fully controlled, scalable, and insight-driven material master data function—supporting compliance, enhancing transparency, and driving confidence in global supply chain and business decisions.
