Vaasan, established in 1849, is a prominent food company operating in Finland and the Baltic region, with a focus on effective product master data management. The company faced challenges including decentralized data, outdated tools, and low data quality, which led to the selection of the EBX5 master data platform to create a single source of truth. The initiative, started in December 2012, included data cleaning and rollouts, emphasizing the importance of strategic management commitment and careful tool selection.

1. Product master data consolidation
Natalja Kopeykin
9.12.2015

2. Introduction to Vaasan

3. Founded 1849 1762
Key products
Popular and well-known brands in the Baltic countries
1882 19521965
9.12.2015Product master data consolidation, Natalja Kopeykin

4. Finland
1. Kiiminki
2. Seinäjoki
3. Kuopio
4. Tampere
5. Vammala
6. Joutseno
7. Kuusankoski
8. Kotka
9. Vantaa
Head office Helsinki
Sweden
10. Stockholm
Estonia
11. Tallinn
12. Saue
Latvia
13. Riga
Lithuania
14. Panevėžys
15. Vilnius
1.
2. 3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
11
.
10.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Production in Finland and the Baltics
14
production facilities
Exports to almost
40 countries
Personnel
2,500
Net sales 2014
394MEUR
Head office in
Helsinki
Vaasan is owned by Lantmännen
9.12.2015Product master data consolidation, Natalja Kopeykin

5. Vaasan per Country 2014
49
21
17
5
3 5
Finland
Sweden
Baltics
Norway
Denmark
Other
49
17
14
16
31
Finland
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Sweden
Norway
Net Sales (%) Employees (%)
9.12.2015Product master data consolidation, Natalja Kopeykin

6. 6
Several tools used in Item and Product data management in all stages of
lifecycle, as result:
o Product Data is scattered between those sources -> Product Data Safety
risk due to data maintenance decentralization
o Existing Product data tool designed 20 years ago for 1-2 users - does not
answer business needs & does not support processes
o Not all data is currently maintained in tools
o Data creation process is not optimal
o Product Master data quality not at the right level
o Simple data customer inquiries take long time to answer
Background
9.12.2015Product master data consolidation, Natalja Kopeykin

7. 7
Pre-study and tool selection
Final selection Team
demo
RFP
3
tools
RFI
10
tools
Desktop
search >
20 tools
Partner
Tool
VAASAN
fit
TCO
User
friendli-
ness
Aspects evaluated
• VAASAN requirements
• Future use and extension
• TCO
• User friendliness
• IT Architecture – fit to IT environment
• Consultants with experience
• References in F&B industry
As result we selected EBX5 –
Master data platform, e.g
What you model is what you get 9.12.2015Product master data consolidation, Natalja Kopeykin

8. 8
Strategic fit
Gate
Feasibility
Gate
Viability
Gate
Industrializat
ion Gate
Production Post launch
activities
Regulatory
Gate
CONCEPT
CREATION /
DESIGN
PLANNING/
DEVELOPMENT
OPPORTUNITY /
IDEA GATHERING
PREPARING
FOR MASS
PRODUCTION
LAUNCH/
PRODUCTION
END OF LIFE /
AFTERSALES
REGISTRY/
CERTIFICATION
P O R T F O L I O M A N A G E M E N T
Burning
platform
Product
Launch
decision
NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
M A N U F A C T U R I N G
D E L I S T I N G
P R O D U C T R E N O V A T I O N
M A S T E R D A T A M A N A G E M E N TINNOVATION
Tool coverage area
Product Lifecycle: Governed data and related processes
9.12.2015Product master data consolidation, Natalja Kopeykin
Prioritization
Idea filtering
Go-NoGo decision
Product Brief
Feasibility
Testing
Package definition
Process definition
Recipe definition
Ingredients and specs
Sourcing
Concept Brief
Timetable
Resources
Budget
Production plan
Launching plan
Final specifications
Demand Planning
Sales Planning
QA Review
GS1
Other Product
Data registries
Feedback
Claims
Product delisting
Supplier
auditing

9. 9
• Initiative started: December 2012 (project frozen for 1 year)
• Tool selection: December 2013
• Data cleaning started: September 2014
• First pilot: March 2015
• Rollout: May 2015
• Single Products:
o Before/after cleansing 4500/1500
o Information fields: about 300
• Sales Products:
o Before/after cleansing 4500/2500
o Information fields: about 350
Product Master Data - some figures and dates
9.12.2015Product master data consolidation, Natalja Kopeykin

10. Master data tool philosophy
9.12.2015
10
• VAASAN has selected tool to manage Master data and currently implemented
for Product data management
• Master data is created in one place and distributed it to all systems that use it
• Global solution for all countries all Bus including
o Process – one set of rules, global processes
o Tool - enables one policy implementation and follow-up
o Governance: Ownership & accountability
o New information consolidation and structuring principles
o Data security model
• Main idea: Single Source of Truth!
Product master data consolidation, Natalja Kopeykin

11. Master Data Architecture
M3s
(ERP)
Production
applications
Data WH
Maestro
Synkka
(FI GS1)
CRM
EDI to
Customers
External
websites
9.12.2015
Labelling
systems
Integration planned/in progress
Demand
Planning
TM1
Picture
banks
TCPOS (CASH
SYSTEM)
StreamServ
e (PRINTING)
Integration done
Internal
websites
Product master data consolidation, Natalja Kopeykin

12. Master data projects - lessons learned
9.12.2015Product master data consolidation, Natalja Kopeykin
12
• Management commitment is a must – Master data is strategic activity
• Get business to approve and sign all important decisions
• This is not IT project as we change processes & break routines -> Strong Business
Owner required
• Careful tool selection with business involvement identified possible difficulties in the
implementation and showed best available tool for us
• RFP & Use Cases - as detailed as possible. If requirement not found very likely will
not be in your tool
• In VAASAN case project full outsourcing would not be possible – for that you must
have clear processes and clear vision of what you need, then consultants will be able
to implement it!
• Data cleansing and Architecture definition takes much longer time compared to
expected. Risk mitigation: Data cleaning must start in parallel with tool selection