Master Data Management Transformation: Eliminating Growth Bottlenecks for Beverage Manufacturer

Executive Summary

A leading Eastern European beverage manufacturer with 130+ years of heritage faced a growth paradox: their success in expanding product portfolio and geographic reach was being undermined by the very systems meant to support it. Manual, Excel-based product creation processes that worked for a simpler business were now creating weeks of delays, multiplication of errors, and genuine barriers to market opportunities.

We partnered with their team to transform product master data management from a growth constraint into a competitive advantage, implementing Profisee MDM integrated with Microsoft Dynamics to establish the single source of truth they needed for sustainable expansion.

The outcome delivered in 15 weeks: 40% faster product launches, 16% SKU reduction through better data governance, and 23% procurement savings - all delivered through a centralized platform ready to scale with their aggressive growth plans.

Client Background

Our client is a well-established beverage manufacturing company specializing in mineral water, with a strong market presence across Eastern Europe built on 130+ years of brand heritage. Operating 8 production and bottling facilities, they distribute to 40+ countries, predominantly in the EMEA region.

The company manages a complex portfolio of 30,000+ materials, Bills of Materials, and finished goods variants while handling relationships with several thousand parties (customers and vendors). Their current success in mineral water and flavored beverages positions them for expansion into energy drinks and additional product categories.

The Business Challenge

The Growth Bottleneck No One Saw Coming

The company's product creation process had evolved organically over years, starting as simple Excel templates that worked fine when launching a few products annually. But as the business scaled to support 40+ countries, multiple production facilities, and an expanding product portfolio, those same processes became something else entirely: a systematic barrier to the speed and agility the market demanded.

The Real Cost of Manual Processes at Scale

Product Launch Paralysis

Every new product - whether a line extension or market-specific variant - required navigating a multi-step manual gauntlet:

1. Marketing selects product attributes in Excel spreadsheets

2. Excel formulas generate product codes based on those selections

3. Codes manually copied into Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O

4. All product attributes manually re-entered into Dynamics

5. Multiple validation steps to catch inevitable transcription errors

For a company eyeing energy drink market entry and continued geographic expansion, this process wasn't just inefficient - it was directly delaying revenue opportunities. Every week spent creating product master data was a week competitors gained ground.

Data Quality Erosion

Manual data entry at multiple steps guaranteed errors would reach production systems. Product codes mistyped, attributes inconsistently entered, Bills of Materials that didn't align across Logistics, Operations, and Marketing. The impact rippled through:

• Compliance traceability gaps: Slow processes for tracking product components across supply chain

• Inconsistent BOMs: Different teams working with different product definitions

• Duplication and redundancy: Parties (customers/vendors) existing multiple times in the system with conflicting information

Strategic Constraint on Future Growth

The company knew their current infrastructure couldn't support their expansion plans. They were already operating on Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O, but planned system additions - whether for new markets, production facilities, or product categories - would multiply the chaos rather than solve it.

Without a centralized master data hub, each new system would require custom integrations, manual synchronization, and acceptance of fragmented data as the permanent state of operations.

What They Needed

Beyond fixing the immediate Excel problem, they needed a partner who could:

• Eliminate manual bottlenecks without disrupting current production operations

• Establish scalable foundation for multi-system future architecture

• Deliver immediate ROI through faster product launches and reduced errors

• Build internal capability to maintain and evolve the solution independently

• Create the single source of truth that enterprise growth demands

Our Approach

Phase 1: Understanding Operational Reality, Not Just Technical Requirements

We began with comprehensive discovery to understand not just their current Dynamics configuration, but how product data actually flows through their business, from marketing concept to production floor to customer delivery.

Discovery Activities:

• Process mapping across Marketing, Logistics, Operations to identify true pain points and disconnects

• Data quality assessment revealing extent of duplication, inconsistency, and manual error patterns

• Future state architecture planning aligned with their multi-system expansion roadmap

• Integration requirements balancing immediate Dynamics integration with future scalability needs

This foundation allowed us to design a solution that solved the Excel problem while building infrastructure for their 5-year growth plan.

Phase 2: Strategic Platform Implementation

Platform Selection: Profisee MDM

We implemented Profisee as the central master data management hub, a strategic choice for several reasons:

• Microsoft ecosystem alignment: Native integration with Dynamics 365, Azure Data Factory, and their existing technology investments

• Proven beverage/manufacturing capabilities: Platform already handling similar complexity in food and beverage operations globally

• Scalability for growth: Architecture supporting their planned expansion to additional systems and markets

• Party model sophistication: Handling their requirement for entities playing multiple roles (customer, vendor, employee) through Global Address Book structure

Technical Architecture Delivering Business Value

Centralized Product Creation

Profisee FastApps configured for finished goods, raw materials, and non-production materials with automated code generation based on business rules. Product attributes entered once, validated immediately, and automatically distributed to all consuming systems.

Workflow-Driven Bill of Materials

Standardized approval processes ensuring BOMs maintain consistency across Logistics, Operations, and Marketing. Clear accountability, audit trails, and elimination of the "which version is correct?" question.

Automated Data Quality Framework

15+ configurable attribute validations catching errors at point of entry, before they reach production systems. Quality rules aligned with compliance requirements, reducing manual verification overhead.

Party Domain Governance

Implementation of party-based entity model where single entities hold multiple organizational roles (vendor + customer + employee) through proper relationship management. Golden record established for each party, eliminating duplication and redundancy.

Seamless System Integration

Integration between Profisee and Microsoft Dynamics developed to enable automatic data flow. Product data created in Profisee flows to Dynamics with all attributes properly populated, no manual re-entry, no transcription errors.

Architecture for Future Growth

The implementation positioned Profisee as the central hub ready to connect additional systems as the company expands. Whether adding new ERPs for different regions or specialized systems for energy drink production, the foundation supports integration without architectural rework.

Migration Scope

Successfully implemented across critical domains supporting current operations and future expansion:

• Product master data: 30,000+ materials, BOMs, finished goods, variants with automated code generation

• Party management: Several thousand customers and vendors with proper role-based relationships

• 50+ entities (main and related) supporting complex product and organizational hierarchies

• Up to 300 attributes (shared across entities) enabling detailed product specifications

• Up to 100,000 records capacity supporting current scale and growth runway

Governance and Control Framework

• 3 hierarchies organizing products, parties, and organizational structures

• 5 different access roles ensuring appropriate data access and approval authorities

• 3 simple workflows streamlining common approval processes

• 10 data quality rules (mix of simple, moderate, and complex) maintaining data integrity

• 2 matching strategies preventing duplicate party creation

Phase 3: Knowledge Transfer and Team Enablement

We invested in building internal capability rather than creating consultant dependency. Through structured training, comprehensive documentation, and hands-on mentorship, the client's team gained both technical platform knowledge and strategic thinking about data governance.

The Result: The client team independently manages ongoing platform operation, adds new data models as business needs evolve, and confidently makes governance decisions without external support.

Business Impact

Speed to Market & Operational Excellence

• 40% faster product launches: Reduced time-to-market from weeks to days, enabling rapid response to market opportunities

• Zero manual re-entry: Product attributes entered once in Profisee, automatically flowing to Dynamics with complete specifications

• Golden Records across domains: Single authoritative view of products and parties eliminating "which system is right?" questions and data conflicts in decision-making

Cost Reduction Through Better Data

• 16% SKU reduction: Better visibility revealing redundant and low-performing products previously hidden in data chaos

• 23% procurement spend savings: Consolidated party records and improved product data enabling strategic sourcing decisions

Foundation for Scale

• 15-week delivery: Complete transformation from Excel chaos to enterprise MDM without disrupting production operations

• Team independence: Internal capability eliminating ongoing consulting costs and enabling rapid response to changing business needs

• Scalable architecture: Platform supporting current operations with capacity for additional system integration as expansion demands

Conclusion

This master data management transformation achieved what growing manufacturing companies struggle with: converting the very infrastructure meant to support operations - but actually constraining growth - into the foundation for competitive advantage.

For a beverage manufacturer with aggressive expansion plans, operating with fragmented product data across multiple systems wasn't just inefficient. It was systematically delaying market opportunities, multiplying operational costs through manual processes, and making every new system addition more complex and risky. We eliminated those constraints while building scalable architecture supporting the next phase of growth.

The 40% reduction in product launch time, 16% SKU optimization, and 23% procurement savings represent immediate ROI. But the strategic value lies in what's now possible: the ability to move at market speed, supported by infrastructure that scales with ambition rather than limiting it.

The client's ability to independently operate and evolve the platform demonstrates that successful implementations transfer capability, not dependency.

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