Data quality management company Pilog has developed a middleware product that enables standards-based master data management with any enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, says Pilog Africa CEO Pieter Strydom.

The middleware system enables companies to use ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) 8000 standards, which govern data quality and management with any ERP system. This enables these companies to apply data quality principles to their financial processes, such as procurement, adds Pilog Group chairperson Dr Salomon de Jager.

Further, South Africa has sought to implement an integrated financial management system (IFMS), which will enable procurement across all organs of State to conform with centrally managed and defined criteria, as set by the national departments in question or the National Treasury. ISO standards can underpin such a system, he explains.

“Managing master data governing systems according to international standards allows for very specific criteria to be used, which means that any procurement, for example, must conform with centrally managed definitions of goods or services. This would enable goods and services to be clearly defined and their value compared, based on specific criteria, reducing the risk of overpaying for goods or services, or procuring incorrect goods or services.”

Further, the Pilog ERP system can also be used to manage procurement better within existing systems and workflow processes, such as those of the military or municipalities, without having to change those processes, De Jager adds.

“All that is required is to ensure that there is sufficient information about the goods or service being purchased, defined in the system as various criteria related to specific products or services that enable them to be compared, and then determine whether they match the central criteria governing procurement.”

Pilog India was named ERP giant Oracle partner of the year, owing to its contribution to enabling the use of data quality management within the Oracle ERP architecture.

“However, our system can be deployed on any ERP system,” emphasises Strydom.

Specifically, the Pilog master data quality management (MDQM) system uses Oracle’s EDQ (enterprise data quality) module, which allows for data quality management to be done according to the ISO 8000 standards. The ISO data quality management standards require more criteria than the native EDQ system, and the Pilog MDQM system allows for these additional criteria to be used seamlessly within the Oracle architecture.

Meanwhile, Pilog will host the ISO technical committee Work Group 13, which is codifying the ISO standards governing data quality management and data quality improvement, from February 22 to 25 at the Cape Town Peninsula University of Technology. The event includes a special industrial data quality management open day on February 24.

“Companies interested in using master data to govern their industrial processes and systems are invited to attend, and companies that have implemented ISO 8000 master data management standards are invited to present their implementation. The members of the work group will also be available to respond to questions from industry about master data and data quality,” concludes Strydom.