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Online course · from master data maintenance practice

Master Data Specialist: Request Processing

For master data specialists and leads, maintenance team leads and teams that work the request queue every day. The course is built not from a textbook but from real situations on our material master maintenance projects: how to tell in two minutes whether a request can be worked, not miss a duplicate, choose the class, describe the item and avoid sending the request round in circles.

Send a request Course programme
  • 10+1modules and the "Specialist's shift" workshop
  • ~11 hof learning time, plus one hour for the workshop
  • 72exercises on requests from a real queue
  • 80 %pass mark in the 30-question final test

About the course

Master Data Specialist: Request Processing follows the Master Data Management course and covers the specialist's workplace: from request intake checks to publishing the record and the quality of your own work. Ten modules cover ten problems a specialist faces every day, plus a workshop on a request queue. The rules come from the material master maintenance SOPs used by master data teams at large industrial companies.

Who it is for

Master data specialists and leads, maintenance team leads, master data outsourcing teams and new members of a master data team, instead of months of "do it like last time".

01Format

Every topic goes from problem to tool

The course is not about theory: each module starts with a work situation and ends with a tool the specialist takes back to work. Shown on module 1.

  1. 01Work situationWhat happens in the queue every day.The request is incomplete, clarifications go round in circles, and the day is spent on emails.
  2. 02Why it happensWhere the problem comes from.Why requests arrive incomplete, and why the same cause keeps coming back.
  3. 03What the SOP saysThe rule that removes the problem.Four checks in the first two minutes: is it our catalogue, is the set complete, is the source acceptable, is the data consistent.
  4. 04ExerciseRequests from the queue with feedback on every answer.Accept, complete, return or pass on, and why.
  5. 05ToolWhat stays on the desk.A one-page intake checklist.
  • 9 minmodule introduction with voice-over
  • 12sections: problem → cause → rule → tool
  • 7 to 8exercises in each module
  • 12questions in the module test, pass mark 75%

02Exercises

What practice looks like inside a module

This is how exercises look in the learner area after you press Check: requests and comments from a working queue, a decision for each line and a review, including of wrong answers.

ExerciseA specialist's morning: nine requests

The queue of the site B specialist on Monday morning. For each request, choose the intake decision and press Check.

  1. 01Bearing 6310-2Z, ISO 15, EA, "crusher planned maintenance". No attachmentsAcceptCorrect. A standard item: the designation is enough, a document is not required. The set is complete.
  2. 02Filter FM-0749-K, Ketra, catalogue page with the title page. Unit of measure is pack, but the catalogue sells the filter by the pieceComplete it yourselfCorrect. The unit clearly follows from the manufacturer's catalogue. The specialist corrects it.
  3. 03Mechanical seal "same as on the pump in building 3", general photo of the pumpReturn to requesterCorrect. There is no designation and no document, and the specialist cannot find them with certainty. One return: what is needed and where to look.
  4. 05Cable LSZH 3x2.5 mm², datasheet attached for 3x1.5 mm²AcceptCorrect answer: Return to requester. The data conflicts and it is unclear which is right. The specialist cannot decide for the requester.

+ 5 more requests

8 of 9 correct. Each line has a review below it.

Module 1 · Request intake checks. Nine requests from the morning queue: accept, complete yourself, return or pass on, with a review of each.
ExerciseFind the weak return comments

Ten return comments from one week of the team log. Mark the ones after which the requester will not know what to do, or will feel blamed.

  1. 01"The request is filled in incorrectly. Read the master data maintenance methodology."Weak. A judgement with no content. It does not say what is wrong, what to do or where to find it. A link to a 150-page methodology is not a hint.
  2. 02"The request has no seal number. It is in the pump datasheet, section Spare parts. Attach that page with the title page. We will set the class and unit ourselves."
  3. 03"You did not attach the document again."Weak. It blames the requester ("again") and gives no hint about which document is needed and why the last one did not work.
  4. 10"Under clause 3.3.5 of the methodology, the duplicate is not confirmed."Weak. A clause number instead of content. The requester will not learn how the records differ and may submit the same request again.

+ 6 more comments

5 of 6 found, 1 missed. Missed ones are highlighted yellow, wrongly marked ones red; each has a review below it.

Module 8 · Returns and talking to the requester. Ten return comments: find the ones that will send the request round in circles.

03Course extracts

How the course explains and how it asks

Extracts from modules 1, 8 and 2: course text and an exercise.

Intake checks are the first two minutes with a request. In that time the specialist answers one question: can this request be worked, that is, can we search for duplicates, choose the class and describe the record.
Module 1 · Request intake checks
A good return is judged not by how precisely it quotes the SOP but by what the requester does after reading it. If they have to call the specialist to understand what is wanted, the return has failed.
Module 8 · Returns and talking to the requester
Exercise · module 2Course extract

Duplicate, full alternative, substitute, or is a document needed?

Request: pump, Tarvex TN-45In the catalogue: pump, Varga Pumps VN-45According to the datasheets, purpose, flow rate, head, connection dimensions and operating conditions all match

Full alternative. Different manufacturers and designations, yet full interchangeability on every characteristic. The SOP allows creating such a record. Note the found record in a comment: it may join a group of full alternatives.

Duplicate. Interchangeability does not make two items one material. Manufacturers and markings differ: buy on one record and you get a Tarvex pump, on the other a Varga Pumps one.

Substitute. A substitute replaces the original material only under certain conditions. Here the replacement is full, under any operating conditions.

Potential duplicate. The documents are there, the datasheets of both pumps, and they answer the question. A potential duplicate is when there is not enough data to decide.

Pick an answer to see the review

04Programme

Ten modules and a workshop

Under each module title is what the specialist can do after it. You can take the modules in any order, but each builds on the previous one.

  1. 01

    Request intake checks

    Decide in two minutes whether a request can be worked: what to complete yourself, what to return and what to pass on, and return only once, with all comments

    61 min
  2. 02

    Search before creating

    Search by designation, synonyms, attributes and documents, and tell a duplicate from an alternative and a substitute by the SOP criteria

    64 min
  3. 03

    Class from the request

    Assign an item to a class by principles and a decision tree, not by similarity, and keep a log of disputed decisions

    67 min
  4. 04

    Identification, sources and units

    Choose the identification type and reference type, check source documents, set base and alternative units of measure

    70 min
  5. 05

    Description and pre-publication check

    Build the long and short material description and check the record against eight golden record criteria before publishing

    64 min
  6. 06

    Change, block and merge

    Tell a change from a new item with the table of allowed changes, block and merge records without losing accounting history

    62 min
  7. 07

    Special items and mandatory flags

    Recognise own-production items, equipment for construction projects, aggregated items, items that need marking or licences, and fill in their mandatory flags

    66 min
  8. 08

    Returns and talking to the requester

    Write a return the requester does not need to call about, hold your ground on "just create it as is" and pass recurring causes to the master data lead

    67 min
  9. 09

    Queue and allocation

    Choose the next request by the rule, meet queue deadlines, work with batches and hand over at shift change

    67 min
  10. 10

    Specialist work quality

    Run a control sample, calculate a weighted quality metric and review errors without looking for someone to blame

    66 min
  11. W

    Workshop: Specialist's shiftoptional

    Work a shift of 27 requests in 55 minutes: a decision and its grounds for each, then a shift report and a list of modules worth rereading

    60 min

Totalabout 11 hours + 1 hour workshop

05Practice

Rules from projects, not from a textbook

The course is built on the material master maintenance SOPs of large industrial companies and on situations we deal with on projects. Client names are removed, and examples are moved into a composite case of a fictional mining group, Ridgemet.

  • 2,400requests a month in the Ridgemet case: five specialists, more than twenty requests each per day
  • 4 · 4 · 24 hqueue deadlines on one of the projects: accept, process, total time with the specialist
  • 8golden record criteria: the checklist before publishing
  • 16duplicate or not criteria: the main tool for searching before creating

06For participants

What participants get

  • Ten modules, the Specialist's shift workshop and 72 exercises with feedback
  • Take-away tools from every module
  • Final test and a numbered Synopps certificate
  • For groups, a curator who sees each participant's progress and results
  • 12 months of access

Tools the specialist keeps, for example

  • Intake checklist

  • Duplicate or not memo

  • Class decision tree

  • Table of allowed changes

  • Return reasons with ready wording

  • Control sample template

07Questions

Questions and answers

How soon can we start

Right after the invoice is paid: we register the participants and email them invitations; the group curator gets access to the summary.

Do we need to take Master Data Management first

No, there is no prerequisite. The Master Data Management course explains how a master data team works as a whole. It helps to take it first, but its certificate is not required.

How is this course different from Master Data Management

Master Data Management is an overview for everyone responsible for master data: architecture, processes, the project, economics. This course is the specialist's daily work with requests: ten workplace problems and a workshop on a request queue.

How long does the course take

Ten modules of about 65 minutes each, about 11 hours in total. The optional workshop takes another hour. You can take it in parts, and your progress is saved.

How does the final test work

30 questions, three from each module, 50 minutes, pass mark 80%. Three attempts, with a 24-hour pause between them.

Can the course be moved to our SOP

Yes: we replace the rules and examples with your maintenance SOP, classification and return reasons. How it works.

How does payment work

Under a contract with a company and an invoice. The course is not yet available to individuals; if you want to take it yourself, say so in your request.

What document do participants receive

A numbered Synopps certificate of completion; it can be verified by its number on the Academy website. It is not a formal education document.

08Request

Send a request and we will issue an invoice

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