Manufacturers rely on a vast network of distributors, suppliers, logistics partners and resellers to keep operations running and products moving. Not surprisingly, with that complexity comes risk, especially when the data about those channels or partners live in disconnected systems, spreadsheets and emails.

While most manufacturers have made strides in managing product data, many still operate with inaccurate, outdated information about their business partners. Shipments go to the wrong address, freight gets returned because it went on a boxed truck instead of a flat bed, skids were over max or packaged wrong, invoices don’t match purchase orders, compliance teams miss regional specs or sales lose visibility into global affiliations, contracts or no-competes. Manufacturers often don’t realize the cost until something breaks and even then, the problem gets “fixed” amid day-to-day chaos, gradually weighing down on the margins.

These aren’t isolated issues to chalk up to normal events. They are symptoms of poor business partner data governance, and they’re silently costing you.

Operations: Bad data creates bottlenecks, kills on-time delivery

You may have the best production schedule in the world, but it only works if materials show up on time, following the appointment procedure, packed correctly, to the right dock, with appropriate paperwork. When supplier or logistics partner records are duplicated, outdated or misaligned across systems, that clockwork breaks. The same problem applies downstream to your partners:

• Multiple versions of the same distributor in ERP and traffic systems create confusion
• Incorrect packaging/shipping instructions lead to delays, re-routing or repackaging fees due to missed appointment or unloading dock instructions, and idle labor
• Scattered instructions, paperwork errors or incomplete details lead to refused shipments or not sending blind BOLs that expose sources to a key distributor’s customer

Sales and marketing: Disconnected partner data destroys deals, undermines the channel

Your sales and marketing teams need to understand who your customers are, how they’re affiliated, what they’re entitled to and who’s selling what in which market. Without governed business partner data, these teams are flying blind:

• A rep quotes a potential new customer a low price, not realizing it’s part of an existing account or one being serviced through a distributor with a no-compete, resulting in an upset distributor or exposing a low-ball “deal” being offered to others
• History is not accurate or centralized, resulting in poor service while primary account executives are on vacation, missed opportunities for cross/upsells or unclear service warranties
• A broken pricing agreement because a customer’s legal entity wasn’t tied back to the contract owner
• Marketing fails to correctly target customers for campaigns
• Large orders are taken for a subsidiary belonging to a larger corporation on a credit hold or part of a competitor

Finance: Clean partner data means cleaner books and less surprises

When business partner data is inconsistent across procurement, AP, AR and tax systems, it creates problems at every close:

• Duplicate vendors result in overpayments, missed discounts and extra 1099s
• Inaccurate legal entity data causes invoicing errors and credit risk exposure
• Disjointed payment terms and tax information complicate reconciliation

Compliance and risk: Small errors lead to big returns or violations

Regulatory risk often stems from poor data hygiene or no multi-domain connection back to the products or materials that satisfy specifications. Returns of entire lots from a distributor over non-compliance are often massive as opposed to single orders to customers. They also often damage trust since the shipment was to replenish stock and now leaves the distributor scrambling to find a backup to keep shelves full, a backup that could slowly take your spot. Pain points:

• Selling to a partner with export restrictions because their alias wasn’t matched to a watchlist
• Shipping products to distributors made with raw materials within the BOM that aren’t aligned or conform to regional regulations, resulting in your product being pulled from shelves or eroding end customers' brand trust
• Missing ESG disclosures tied to a supplier’s corporate parent due to disconnected entity records

Why this matters more than ever

If you’ve ever lost a deal due to channel confusion, delayed a shipment due to misrouted freight or spent hours reconciling a customer’s identity across three systems, you’ve felt the pain of unmanaged business partner data. Instead of putting out daily fires and dealing with the negative effects on efficiency or margins, it’s time to fix the root cause.

By investing in centralized governance of your business partner data, you protect your brand, empower your teams and create the operational clarity needed to grow with confidence. More so, this kind of platform fixes an exhaustive list of problems without being pervasive to the business or requiring everyone to be retrained on a new system.

The result? Fewer errors, better decisions, stronger relationships and faster execution across the business.

Learn more about how you can optimize your manufacturing business with trustworthy data.