How Automating Material Master Data in SAP Can Help You

In operations with thousands of materials and multiple plants, branches and distribution centers, manual master data creation in SAP quickly hits its limits. Each user interprets the description rule differently, chooses different units of measure, fills NCM/GTIN inconsistently and replicates records that already existed under another code.

• Silent duplicates: the same material created several times, inflating inventory and distorting purchasing.
• Inconsistent descriptions: they hinder search, spend analysis and vendor negotiation.
• Incomplete critical fields: tax classification, MRP, accounting and quality data filled 'when there's time'.
• Tax and logistics rework: rejected invoices, tax errors and movements blocked by wrong data.
• Biased decisions: indicators built on an unreliable base.

The problem is not SAP, it is the lack of automation and governance at the data-entry stage. That is exactly where a good material master data software comes in.

Automating is not just about 'taking Excel out of the process'. It means designing a structured flow, with business rules, validations and integrations, executed inside (or fully connected to) SAP. In general, this flow involves:

• Smart forms per material type, with mandatory fields and controlled value lists.
• MDP (Material Description Pattern) and rules that automatically build the standardized description.
• Duplicate and similarity checks before creating a new code in SAP.
• Tax validations (NCM, CEST, GTIN, unit of measure) and checks against public and official sources.
• Approval workflows by area (purchasing, engineering, tax, accounting, quality), with an audit trail.
• Native integration with SAP ECC or S/4HANA, saving the material already standardized, approved and complete.

The gain is not just speed. It is predictability: every material enters SAP following the same standard, with the same controls, regardless of the plant or the user.

Master data governance is more than a data-entry manual. It is the combination of processes, policies and tools that ensure master data remain reliable throughout their entire lifecycle: pre-registration, creation, modification, enrichment and obsolescence.

In practice, mature material governance answers questions such as:

• Who can request, approve and change a material?
• Which fields are mandatory per material type and per view (MRP, accounting, tax, sales)?
• How do we prevent duplication before the code is created?
• How do we continuously monitor the quality of the existing base?
• How do we handle exceptions without breaking the standard?

When these answers are encoded in a tool, not just described in a document, governance moves from discourse to daily strategic operation.

Most of the rework in master data creation stems from errors that could have been prevented at the source: an incorrect NCM, a wrong unit, a confusing description, a duplicate material. Each of these small errors turns into hours of corrections spread across purchasing, tax, logistics and accounting.

By automating master data creation inside a governed flow, control gains appear on several fronts:

• Fewer duplicates thanks to similarity search before code creation.
• Fewer rejected invoices, with tax validations applied before saving the material in SAP.
• Fewer manual adjustments in inventory, MRP and planning, because the data is born correct.
• Complete audit trail, with who requested, approved, changed and when.
• Reliable indicators of data quality, master-data creation time and productivity of the areas involved.

This control translates into direct cost impact: less stagnant inventory due to duplicates, fewer tax fines, fewer hours spent on reconciliation and more time dedicated to analysis and improvement activities.

[MDM+ BRO](/en/solutions/material-and-product) is akquinet's SAP-certified add-on for governance and automation of material master data in SAP ECC or S/4HANA environments. It was designed specifically for large and mid-sized companies that need to standardize material management inside SAP without leaving the ERP itself (which means lower impact on your company's users).

Among the capabilities of [MDM+ BRO](/en/solutions/material-and-product), the following stand out:

• Request portal and workflow per material type, with fields and approvals configurable by area.
• MDP and standardized description rules, eliminating variations and workarounds in data entry.
• Duplicate and similarity checks before code creation, preventing repeated materials in the base.
• Tax validations and integrations for checking NCM, GTIN, unit of measure and other critical attributes.
• Continuous monitoring of the existing base quality, with cleansing rules and indicators.
• Execution inside SAP, leveraging existing roles, authorizations and audit trail.

Combined with the other SAP tools in your operation, [MDM+ BRO](/en/solutions/material-and-product) turns material master data creation into a standardized, auditable and scalable process — an essential condition for master data governance in complex and regulated environments.

If your company deals with duplicates, tax rework and difficulty trusting SAP information, it makes sense to evaluate how [MDM+ BRO](/en/solutions/material-and-product) can structure master data automation in your reality.