ISO 8000 - Data Quality 100:5: 5 Master data

What does 100:5 require?

In an organization, master data name and describe the things that matter to it (called items in cataloguing). Business transactions usually point to master data through an identifier that stands both for the thing and for the master data record (MDR) describing it, usually kept in a central store such as an ERP or MDM system; one logical MDR may be spread over several physical records, for example rows in several tables. Identifying references are made to be used by others, such as a tax number, a national insurance number or a manufacturer's part number, and a reference only means something when it is tied to a system of identification (a part number is useless if the issuing manufacturer is unknown). A description may be characteristic data a computer can read, normally property values, or text for people; some properties differentiate one item from another, usually numeric or controlled values, and which properties differentiate is a choice that differs between organizations and even between functions of one organization (a buyer who groups several manufacturers' interchangeable parts under one stock number treats as non-differentiating what the manufacturers treat as differentiating). Controlling duplication is central to master data quality, and because master data change and different functions need different numbers of characteristics, records may have to be split when a characteristic becomes differentiating or may turn into duplicates when one stops being so. The kinds of master data named are: vendor masters (location and legal status, much of it required by law so that every recipient of funds can be identified); customer masters (at least what is needed to send invoices, possibly confidential data such as card details, subject to data protection law if personal data are held); item or material masters (tangible items tracked, stocked or bought regularly, supporting spend analysis, bills of materials, common parts catalogues, illustrated parts catalogues and spare parts lists); item of supply masters (a reference to an item master plus packaging and quantity); service, procedure or process masters (still rare outside healthcare and vehicle repair; CPT-4 codes are the example); asset masters (items above a value threshold or depreciated over years, usually serialised, tracking location, value and maintenance, with the hard question of when a modified asset has become a new one); location masters (seldom kept separately, although separating them from customer and vendor masters tends to improve quality; in theory a position fix, in practice often with postal and delivery details); and human resource, employee or point-of-contact masters (describing individuals, often confidential and regulated, with employment relationship details better handled as transaction data).