Industries / Manufacturing

Commodity Classification

To manage spending, organizations need to know how much of a commodity, part or service they are buying from which suppliers, who are their top suppliers, and which products and services cost the most. For this analysis, they need good product data. While organizations collect data on inventory, parts and services, it often lacks a standard structure, has duplicate product numbers, obsolete product IDs and inconsistent item descriptions – making it difficult to rank suppliers, perform cost comparisons and optimize spending.

" It looks exactly like the normal purchase order process, but behind the scenes it is matching the text against hundreds of thousands of keywords in several languages, and generating eCl@ss codes."

— Joachim Beurskens

Global Data Manager Purchasing for DSM, a multinational manufacturer of diversified products

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How SAS® Can Help 

DataFlux, a SAS company, can help by enabling commodity classification based on standard coding systems that provides a vendor-neutral way to classify product data, allowing increased visibility into spending trends so organizations can maximize their spending power by using the supply base to its best advantage. The result is:

  • Smoother and improved operations along the supply chain.
  • Improved relationships with existing suppliers.
  • An increased ability to compete in new markets.

How SAS® Is Different 

With DataFlux you get:

  • Internal automated classification capabilities for faster, more accurate product and item classification rather than outsourced classification, which usually provides questionable results. Automated classification also lowers administrative costs.
  • Data classification using any taxonomy across data domains.
  • Strong data quality capabilities, including duplicate record removal across databases and profiles and reports for incoming data.
  • Rationalization of inventory data across business units.
  • Ability to merge current material data with catalog data.
  • Determine complete volume of business with a vendor.
  • Determine parts commonality using attribute analysis.

With DataFlux from SAS, you get a faster way to enhance your product and item data – and create a foundation for spending analysis.

Related Products and Solutions

DataFlux® Accelerator for Materials Data Classification

The DataFlux Accelerator for Materials Data Classification offers a faster way to enhance your product and item data. DataFlux technology matches your product and item data with any type of classification codes – industry standards such as UNSPSC, eCl@ss and GS1, as well as custom codes developed within your organization. These codes provide a standardized way to organize and segment information on spending patterns and create a foundation for spend analysis and master data management (MDM) efforts.

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Ready to learn more?

Call us at 1-800-727-0025 (US and Canada) or request more information.