Dirty data is a lot like dirty fuel. No matter how good the car, it will malfunction and ultimately break down.
Dirty product data is unclear, inconsistent, and incomplete — making it impossible to identify products by their technical and functional characteristics, or to locate the same or similar products.

The dirty fuel clogging your information pipes that you can't see…but it's there
This typical real-life example shows three different product descriptions taken from one catalog which describe the same product, but only an expert is able to identify it as such.

1. DIN 912 10x1x30-2.9 mat304
2. ALLEN SCR M10x30 stainless steel
3. M10x1mmx30mm SHCS-SS

The cost of dirty product data
The simple example below only illustrates the higher procurement costs generated by dirty product data. If the purchasing departments had been aware that these three separate product descriptions were the same product, they would have known that the product was already in stock (under different names) and would have placed a smaller order.

Creating value through data refinement
Refining data involves taking raw, unstructured, incomplete, and inconsistent product data located in different databases within the organization and transforming it into rich, high-quality master data that can be used across the organization - and while also maintaining ongoing data quality. For example, this single product description was created out of the three different descriptions above.

Category	Type	Screw Size	Thread Pitch	Head Style	Fastener Length	Drive System	Material
Screw	Machine Screw	M10	1mm	Cylindrical	30mm	Female Hex	Stainless Steel

Get the right information at the right time
In the above procurement example, a high-quality product data scenario enables efficient procurement (the overall procurement order would be much smaller and cheaper).

Before Data Refining $1.20 x 7,000 units $1.00 x 12,000 units $0.80 x 10,000 units Quantity: 29,000 units Cost: $28,400

After Data Refining $ 0.80 x 15,000 units Quantity: 15,000 units Cost: $12,000 Saving: $16,400

What are the Business Benefits? Reduction in procurement costs Reduction in stock, logistic, and production costs Reduction in delivery time Improved customer service Streamlined procurement, operations, and engineering