Data validation
For the App to display accurate information, data is extracted from your ERP system via data files. Like any system, the quality of the output is dependent on the quality and accuracy of the imported data.
The following data drives the app:
Data file | Containing |
Locations | Physical stocking locations (warehouses and branches) |
Suppliers | Active vendors |
Product master | Basic product information |
Stock by location | The current stock position by location |
Custom groups | Codes and descriptions for custom data |
Sales & issues | Sales and issues summarised by month (or the equivalent transactional data) |
Outstanding purchase orders | Outstanding purchase / production order lines |
Outstanding sales orders | Outstanding sales order lines |
Outstanding transfers | Outstanding transfer lines |
Completed purchase orders | Completed purchase order lines and receipts |
Meta data (‘trigger’ file) | Information about the interface and data extraction |
Bill of materials | The relationship between finished goods and raw materials |
Supersessions | Product linkages where a product(s) has been replaced by a new product |
What to validate?
It is important to validate the data in the app matches your ERP, both at a global/macro level and at individual item level.
The following sections:
Tell you how to navigate to the relevant screens within the app in order to validate the data
Give you suggestions for the types of data validation you should perform
Global/macro level validation
The purpose of global validation is to ensure that we are looking at data of the right order of magnitude. Numbers that are very different to what you are expecting may indicate something is wrong with the data or we are pulling data from the wrong fields in the files mentioned above.
Stock value (at cost) by location
Click on “Locations” (which is found on the left panel of the screen)
Click on the Stock holding heading to sort locations in descending order of stock value (applicable if there are multiple locations)
Validate that the product count and stock holding (valued at cost) appear correct for your key warehouses
Note: the locations table can be downloaded using the “CSV download” button.
Cost of sales value by location
Click on “Forecasts” (which is found on the left panel of the screen)
On the top right of the screen, you will be able to click the drop down on the current location displayed which will bring up a table
Click on Stock holding to sort the locations by stock value
Select a key selling location/warehouse
Ensure that Cost price is selected in the Summary panel
Hover over the blue (sales history) line to see the sales value at cost for a month
Hover over the blue bars (sales history for 12 months) in the Comparison panel to validate the total annual sales at cost
Note: the annual numbers are rolling 12 month periods from today backwards.
Line item validation
The global/macro validation may have found some issues or may be “in the ball park”. Now you should validate a sample of individual items to either find the errors the global/macro validation hinted at or to ensure that the data at this level is accurate and complete.
We recommend selecting a cross-section of items, possibly 2 or 3 from each category below, that should highlight any data issues:
Based on sales movement: fast moving, slow moving, sporadic or intermittent
Based on your stocking policy: make-to-stock, make-to-order, indent, non-stocked, obsolete/do not reorder
Based on manufacture: finished goods, raw materials
Based on experience: your favourite item, your “biggest anomaly” item
For each chosen item, find the item using the Enquiry/Inquiry link – by typing in both the product code (or description) and selecting the location.
Data to validate
The “Details” panel
Average Cost
Selling Price
Volume (if used)
Weight (if used)
Stock on Hand
Unit of Measure
Stocking indicator; should the item be stocked, non-stocked or obsolete
The preferred supplier
The “Groups” panel
Group/dimension information
The “Safety Stock” panel
Lead time (if maintained in your ERP)
The “Tabs” (bottom of the page)
Forecast; unit sales by month
Purchase orders; the details of the open and overdue purchase order lines
Sales orders; the details of the open and overdue sales order lines
BOM; (if applicable) click the “Line” option to view the entire bill structure relating to the item, validate the linkages and ratios by hovering over the lines
Data Quality Validation
Data quality is an indication of the quality of the data in your ERP. To view the data quality functionality:
Click on “System” (which is found on the bottom left panel of the screen)
Click on “Data quality”
View the overall score percentage on the top right corner of the screen
Various panels display information where you can drill-through to listings i.e. relating to Stock data, Locations, Products, Bills of material, Sales orders, Purchase orders, Historical Purchase orders and Sales data.
The following errors are the most important ones to fix initially:
Stock data
Cost price <= 0
On hand < 0
No lead time
No supplier assigned
Bill of materials; looping BOM definitions
Sales orders; overdue sales orders
Purchase orders; overdue Purchase Orders