Within Syngenta Master Data Management is complex, many tasks are outsourced. The translation from business requirements to workable request for the third-party service provider is crucial for successful Master Data Management.
The process of creating Master Data request involves a lot of repetitive actions and is based on a given set of possible choices. To simplify the request processing I was assigned the task to improve the used templates with data checks and request validation.
The more automation I could put in within the given timeframe and restrictions the better. This was a big challenge because from the beginning I was convinced it was possible to automate the process from start to end. Biggest limiting factor was the wish for the new tool to be fully maintainable by the MDM Team, this resulted in a decision on using Excel without VBA and any formula more complex than a VLOOKUP.
The final result was a stable and user maintainable tool built in Excel providing accurate suggestions on what to request and how to fill a request template.