Glossário
Master data
Master data is the registration information that several areas use and that changes rarely: who the customer is, who the supplier is, what the material is, what the service is. It does not record an event — it records the existence of something. That is why an error in it contaminates every transaction that references it.
In practice
What this changes in your master data
Changes rarely, used widely
That combination is what makes it critical: the cost of an error multiplies by the number of areas consuming it.
It has an owner, not a generic custodian
Master data without a responsible area is data nobody fixes, because fixing costs effort and the benefit shows up elsewhere.
Questions
Frequently asked questions about this term
The practical distinction is this: the order is a transaction, the material on the order is master data. Fixing an order affects one order; fixing a material affects every order still to come — which is why registration deserves a process of its own.
Customer, supplier, material, service, and the accounting and tax structures that classify them. The set varies by company, and defining it is the first decision of the programme.
Where it is born governed. The ERP is usually the main consumer, not the place where registration is decided.
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Related terms
MDM (Master Data Management) · Golden record · Data steward