Many multinational companies are waking up to find they have numerous, duplicative, and incomplete records stored in multiple repositories across the enterprise, in remote and isolated information islands. The result: slower responsiveness and higher costs. And when you're as big and spread out as Panasonic, this is not a trivial issue. That's why the electronics giant has set out to reconcile its product data on a global scale, in an attempt to gain the so-called single version of the truth. The end goal: to improve time-to-market and enable simultaneous, global product launches. Business journalist Duff McDonald explores the early returns of this work in progress, and examines the cultural barriers obstructing this monumental task.
Story guide:
First to Market
A Corporate Mandate
A Unified Europe
U.S. Looks to Emulate Europe's Success
A Culture Clash
RFID Looms
Sidebar:
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