Daman helps SC Johnson wax its data integration challenges

In February 2000, SC Johnson wanted to find a better way to quickly gain information about its global business performance. First, the company turned to Daman Incorporated for a comprehensive IT assessment. Then, with Daman's guidance, the company implemented a successful Global Master Data program that now gives SC Johnson all of the information necessary to make smarter business decisions.

Recognizing the need for global data uniformity

With dozens of products and operations in more than 65 countries, SC Johnson needed a more efficient method to gain a big-picture perspective of its global operations. Unfortunately, identical products had different product codes in different countries, which made tracking for inventory and sales calculations quite challenging. To get an accurate account of global performance, the company had to run queries on a wide range of systems and then consolidate all of its spreadsheets. The time-consuming process often delivered less-than-precise results.

Completing a situational assessment

SC Johnson called on Daman Incorporated to assess the strengths and weaknesses of its data systems to determine the potential for implementing a successful Global Master Data program. With a comprehensive situational assessment, Daman guided SC Johnson through an objective, detailed analysis of its IT functions, software, organization and performance.

Daman discovered opportunities for improvement in SC Johnson's data quality and its processes for collecting and structuring data. Daman also recommended defining a global hierarchy for customers and products – an effort that would standardize data usage, integrate critical information worldwide, and encourage data sharing across divisions.

Implementing a Global Master Data program

After receiving the assessment results, SC Johnson extended its partnership with Daman to develop the architecture for the much-needed Global Master Data program. Daman proposed an optimal sequence of investments to build and complete the recommended solution. The team also leveraged existing data warehousing work completed by regional offices in the Americas and Europe. Once deployed, the new program allowed SC Johnson to run regular reports in near real-time by product, country or retail customer (such as Wal-Mart or Safeway). The program was successful in giving SC Johnson executives the global view of information they need to maintain their track record for market leadership.

Evaluating the business advantages

"Daman played an integral role in helping our company reach its global knowledge management goals," explains SC Johnson Senior Manager Lou Sesso. "The people from Daman had the experience and knowledge to properly guide this project – from the objective analysis on the front end, to strategic decisions concerning design and deployment. Their expertise was an incredibly valuable asset."

Specific benefits of SC Johnson's Global Master Data system and its cross-functional product hierarchy include:

• Providing fast global performance data for improved decision-making
• Achieving high-level reporting consistency with superior accuracy
• Decreasing response time to support manufacturing and inventory needs
• Identifying opportunities for cost sharing and marketing synergies
• Enabling regional comparisons and benchmarks
• Reducing time to market with new products
• Improving the long-term value of the company