A Master Data Management Example with Maextro

Who Are Babcock?

Babcock is a leading provider of critical, complex engineering services that support national defence, save lives, and protect communities. They focus on three highly regulated markets—defence, emergency services, and civil nuclear—delivering vital services and managing complex assets both in the UK and internationally. As a trusted partner, Babcock understands the key roles that their technology, expertise, infrastructure, and assets play in ensuring their customers can deliver. They share risk with their customers in delivering innovation and share the benefits.

The Challenge

In SAP terms, Babcock did not previously have a well-defined method for master data management before Maextro, mainly due to the low volume of materials being maintained. However, it was essential that they had a master data management tool for the Defence Support Group (DSG) business unit due to the high volume of material master data and the need for robust governance and management. The business unit had historically faced many process issues rooted in poor master data management. Moving into a data-intensive ERP environment like SAP, it was imperative to have controls in place to ensure material master data remained compliant and managed effectively.

The Selection Process

Babcock had a clear understanding of their requirements but struggled to find a solution that offered the functionality, flexibility, and value to meet their ROI objectives. In 2017, through Bluestonex, they discovered Maextro—a relatively untried but emerging solution. While Maextro lacked maturity, it excelled in flexibility and adaptability. Babcock was assured by Bluestonex’s track record of delivering high-quality IT results, with a strong focus on user experience and value for money. Maextro presented an opportunity to partner with Bluestonex to build a bespoke master data management example that met their unique requirements.

The Solution

Maextro uses templates to capture business processes for master data management. Tasks (approval and data collection) are created within these templates, with views, fields, and users assigned to them. Business rules are also incorporated to ensure correct data entry. Requests for object maintenance or creation are then generated using these templates.

Bluestonex began implementing the material templates with a two-day workshop at Babcock’s Portsmouth office. This workshop clarified the scope, captured existing business rules, and added new rules as desired. Five Maextro templates were specified: two for material creation (one for three material types and one for eight), each with corresponding change templates. The final template extended existing materials to new plants and warehouses.

Bluestonex completed the initial build of the templates and reviewed them with Babcock in an online meeting. Feedback from this session allowed Bluestonex to further refine the templates based on Babcock’s needs. After testing, Babcock explored the Maextro templates in their development system, which highlighted gaps and allowed Bluestonex to align Maextro more closely with the business requirements. Babcock has since made several configuration updates, addressing defects and adapting to new business requirements.

The implementation of these master data management templates has enabled Babcock to create new rules or update existing ones, modify dropdown values, and manage users with ease. Creating new templates based on the originals has also been straightforward.

The Results

The five material templates are now in Babcock’s production system with over 100 business users set up. Approximately 500–600 requests are raised each month, with 60% for new materials, 30% for changes, and 10% for extensions. User training was effective, using a classroom setting with interactive materials and hands-on exercises, which proved successful for learning retention. Maextro has provided the framework and process needed for better control, offering significant improvements over previous processes. Babcock now enjoys much greater visibility into request completion and task management.

What’s Next?

Babcock’s success with material master data management has prompted plans to extend Maextro’s use to include the vendor master data object. This will begin with another workshop to clarify the scope, further enhancing their master data management example and continuing their data governance transformation.