2
Executive
Overview
Master data is essential to managing an
effective, efficient, and compliant import/
export program. Yet, for many, if not most
companies, the trade compliance function
uses inefficient spreadsheets or lightweight
standalone databases to manage the product
and account information needed to support
the import and export activities.
A major challenge for trade compliance
teams is the ability to manage an
organization’s product and account
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
records in a central database. This lack
of centralized master data management
reduces corporate compliance oversight
and creates inefficiencies that negatively
impact daily routines and activities. The
absence of a central database to capture the
unique data elements necessary for trade
compliance activities results in manual and
very inefficient processes. However, the
most important consequence of poor trade
compliance master data control is the degree
to which accuracy, timeliness, and flexibility is
compromised.
3
The concept of master data for trade compliance is not new. However, most
enterprise and GTM solutions do not adequately support master data from a trade
compliance perspective. They fail to deliver on the promise that this capability
provides. Global supply chains continuously evolve based on shifting geopolitical
and economic stresses. These shifts can result in changes to duties, taxes,
preferential trade opportunities, program opportunities, and other factors that affect
the cost and flow of the product.
Understanding the impact of customs tariffs, taxes, and fees on a product and its
landed cost can only be achieved through the lens of trade compliance. Effectively
providing insights and understanding regarding the product and its relationship
to customs and other government agencies, as well as internal operations (e.g.,
sourcing, purchasing, sales, and inventory management), is dependent on strong
master data control.
Controlling and managing master data from a trade compliance perspective when
enterprise master data is completely lacking has been, and is, a challenge for many,
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
if not most, companies.
4
This eBook provides insights into the power and
opportunities that master data for trade compliance
provides. We will look at:
The Principles of Master Data: What It Is and Why It Is Important
Master Data for Trade Compliance: Unique Needs Require
Unique Solutions
The Challenges of Managing Master Data for Trade Compliance
System-Driven Trade Compliance Master Data Drives Accuracy,
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
Accessibility, Timeliness, and Efficiency
Five Major Benefits of Trade Compliance Master Data Control
The 3rdwave Master Data Solution for Trade Compliance
Why 3rdwave Master Data for Trade Compliance
The ability to conquer master data from a trade compliance perspective requires an
investment in the supporting technology. In the concluding section of this book, we
will provide the value propositions that master data for trade compliance delivers.
5
The Principles
of Master Data
WHAT IT IS AND WHY
IT IS IMPORTANT
Master data is the critical foundational
element that supports a company’s business
operations. It is how accounts (i.e., the
entities with which an organization interacts),
products, and services are defined and
shared across the organization. It provides
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
the framework and context for operational
transactions that the organization routinely
executes. It is the single “version of the
truth” for how products and accounts are
seen across the organization.
How master data is managed and organized
is unique to each organization. For small
standalone businesses, master data is
relatively simple to organize and maintain.
In small organizations, master data often
resides in the financial or purchase order
solution.
6
As organizations scale in size and complexity, the need to share master data
increases. Nevertheless, the ability to maintain and control it is a significant
challenge. Large enterprise systems like SAP, Oracle, and Infor, among others, have
extensive, multi-tiered master data capabilities, but due to the sheer size of the data
tables, they can be difficult to maintain and manage.
Effectively using master data across an organization requires systems—whether
manual or automated—that support standardizing, centrally managing, and
contextualizing the data, as well as controlling access to and usage of the data
entities. The process of controlling data across the organization is called master
data management.
Master data and its management are an enterprise function. Master data is dynamic
because organizations, products, and accounts change over time. For large
organizations, a shifting portfolio of companies or divisions complicates the product
and account mix that must be managed. This organizational state of flux impacts the
management of the product and account master data.
Managing master data is critical because almost every business function requires
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
it, in one form or another.
7
Master Data for Trade
Compliance:
UNIQUE NEEDS REQUIRE UNIQUE
SOLUTIONS
Why does the trade compliance function require
its own master data orientation? To understand this
need, it is necessary to grasp the uniqueness of the
trade compliance function within the global supply
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
chain of any organization.
Trade compliance is a required discipline in any organization that participates in the
international sourcing and selling of products, whether in the form of commodities,
raw materials, components, or finished goods. As a discipline it is necessary
because of the myriad regulations that must be observed in order to move goods
across borders. There are customs and other government agencies that regulate
everything from import duties, taxes, and fees, to rules and restrictions regarding
food, alcohol, endangered species, electrical components, cotton, automotive, and
others.
Additionally, there are increasing political and regulatory issues regarding forced
labor, conflict minerals, climate, company ownership, and more.These issues are
unique to the movement of product through borders and fall outside of normal trade
activity. Effectively managing the issues is essential to ensuring the smooth flow of
products through the global supply chain.
8
The regulations that govern the movement of goods across borders require their
own sets of data structures that are not part of the organization’s normal product
and account perspective. Customs and PGAs require their own descriptions, units
of measure (sometimes unique to a product class), bills of material, country of origin
determination, and other requirements not addressed by the standard enterprise
master data tables.
Dealing with customs and PGAs requires an understanding of the product and
account from a complex customs and PGA perspective that is different from
every other organizational perspective. Moreover, trade compliance has its own
language that is different from other operations departments, which complicates
communication within the organization when issues arise. Trade compliance also
deals in an area that is poorly understood by the rest of the organization and is
therefore often misunderstood, under-resourced, and underappreciated.
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
Trade compliance is unique within the organization because:
It is so different from all other operational activities of the organization.
Its language is foreign (e.g., descriptions, units of measure, attributes, etc.).
It is governed by rules and regulations that are by design restrictive to trade.
It deals in multiple jurisdictions with different rules and regulations.
It lacks enterprise system support.
It is because it is so different from the rest of the organization that it requires its
own unique solutions in order to optimally and effectively support the rest of the
organization.
9
The Challenges of Managing
Master Data for Trade
Compliance
LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF THE TRADE COMPLIANCE FUNCTION
When delays are caused by the regulators,
it interrupts the flow of a shipment in the
supply chain. These delays result in tension
and stress within the organization and
throughout the supply chain.
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
Trade compliance is a specialized
department within an organization. Its
primary function is to ensure compliance
with regulatory agencies governing the
movement of goods across borders,
including both imports and exports.
Because regulatory agencies have special
requirements and operate outside of
regular commercial channels, they can
often impede shipment progress. These
regulators exist outside of the organization,
and are independent from it; thus, the
ability of the trade compliance team to
influence decisions is extremely limited.
10
The requirements and expertise necessary to implement and execute a trade
compliance program are specialized. Its reporting function is often within the supply
chain function or legal department. However, even within their department, the role
that they fill is poorly understood and appreciated.
ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS ARE NOT DESIGNED FOR TRADE
COMPLIANCE DATA SETS
The fundamental challenge with master data
for trade compliance is that the data elements
required by customs and partner government
agencies (PGAs) are different from the data
necessary for operational activities (e.g., sales,
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
purchasing, manufacturing, warehousing, and
transportation). While there is some overlap in the
basic product attributes (e.g., product or account
code, standard product description, SKU and
packaging descriptions, physical dimensions,
bills of material, etc.), there are many attributes
and descriptors that are unique to the trade
compliance world.
From a trade compliance perspective, customs and PGAs have requirements that
are different from standard operational descriptions. Customs and PGA product
descriptions, weights and measures, country of origin, HS classification history, PGA
profile control, documentation management, and bill of material control are based
on unique attributes not normally managed by standard enterprise systems.
11
The relationships between these unique trade compliance-focused data elements
influences the effectiveness of the organization in determining country of origin,
taking advantage of free trade agreements or special programs, or availing duty
drawback opportunities.
Because trade compliance product and account attributes are a superset of the
operational product and account descriptors, they are not accommodated in
standard enterprise master data configurations.
Large ERP solutions do have global trade management modules that are robust, but
these have significant hurdles that come with their implementation. We will address
this later on.
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
DISPARATE ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS — NO CENTRAL VERSION
OF THE PRODUCT OR ACCOUNT TRUTH
Many organizations have a heterogeneous, multienterprise system environment. This occurs when
organizations acquire or divest of divisions or
companies over time. This disparate organizational
structure results in these separate business units
having their own enterprise solutions supporting their
own product master data.
There is no single master data view across a
company’s divisions or companies. This often results
in duplicate products with different descriptions,
product codes, and product attributes.
12
Similarly, account proliferation occurs across divisions or companies, making
it virtually impossible to control how an account is seen from the company’s
perspective.
The lack of a central master data repository makes it impossible to create and
manage trade compliance oversight across divisions and companies to ensure total
organization compliance with customs and PGAs
SPREADSHEETS — NO SYSTEM OR PROCESS CONTROL
Most enterprise master data capabilities
do not accommodate trade compliance
requirements. Thus, the management
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
of product and account details for trade
compliance is managed on spreadsheets.
While the spreadsheet has many
strengths, it is also cursed with many
weaknesses. The most obvious
and meaningful shortcoming with
spreadsheets is that they lack system
control. While they are terrific at
manipulating data and enabling flexibility,
they are very poor when it comes to
managing data integrity.
13
When critically looking at spreadsheet constraints, six issues become apparent:
Compromised
There is virtually no control over who has access to
Data Integrity
and can make changes to spreadsheet data.
Limited Data
There are severe limitations relating multiple data
Relationship
elements to one another across spreadsheets.
Management
Restricted Data
Data visibility is limited to the number of columns
Visibility
and rows that can be presented on a screen or
physical document. Master data elements can be
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
1000s of rows deep and 20-30 columns wide.
Restricted Data
While the spreadsheet is extremely flexible in
Relationship
terms of managing (i.e., expanding or contracting)
Visibility
data fields, it is equally restrictive in enabling
relationships between data elements. This is
extremely important when looking to create
relational reports between products, suppliers, and
attributes.
Compromised
The ability to dynamically collaborate with internal
Collaborative
stakeholders is constrained due to the lack of
Activity
controls. These constraints are intensified when
there are multiple divisions or regions involved that
further reduce the ability to collaborate effectively.
14
No Audit
Due to the unruly nature of data management, it is
Management
virtually impossible to effectively audit and maintain
the data within and across multiple spreadsheets.
DATA ACCURACY, CONSISTENCY, AND TIMELINESS
When it comes to trade compliance, the importance
of data accuracy and consistency should not be
underestimated. Every customs entry filing is the
equivalent of a tax return for the IRS. Because the
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
customs and PGA entry is the determining factor
in how the company is profiled by regulators, the
correctness, accuracy, and consistency of filings is
hugely important.
Inaccurate filings can have severe financial penalties if not corrected appropriately.
At a minimum, correcting inaccurate filings, (i.e., post summary corrections) result in
inefficient use of time and money.
With AI and machine learning capabilities, customs and PGAs are improving their
ability to review entries against an organization’s historical filings and comparing
company’s data to similar imports from competitors. This new capability means that
customs can more easily spot classification anomalies against the same or similar
items.
15
Inaccurate or inconsistent data inhibits collaboration. Collaboration requires a high
level of confidence that the information presented is accurate, consistent, and
timely.
As mentioned in the preceding section, the spreadsheet is a poor instrument to
ensure data accuracy. Its flat row and column format lends itself to errors when
creating or updating products or accounts.
CONSTANTLY CHANGING BUSINESS AND REGULATORY
ENVIRONMENTS ACROSS MANY JURISDICTIONS
Managing trade compliance is like managing a
ship in a hurricane. Trade compliance is buffeted
simultaneously from many directions by activities
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
beyond its control. As the pace of geopolitical,
climate, transportation, and supply events change
with increasing frequency (and seemingly intensity),
trade compliance teams are forced to respond
quickly. As customs and other regulatory agencies
respond to politically motivated trade sanctions or
perceived unfair trade practices, the pressure on the
trade compliance teams increases in intensity.
Multiply this turmoil by the number of regions in
which a company operates and the ability to manage
the organization’s trade compliance activity quickly
exceeds human, time, and financial constraints.
16
EXPERTISE AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Trade compliance is steeped in rules and regulations
that date back 200+ years. With constantly changing
rules and regulations, staying abreast of the
information required to effectively manage trade
compliance is an ongoing and growing challenge.
Without proper people and technology, companies face a significant deficit in
ensuring organizational compliance. Many companies outsource their trade
compliance activities to customs brokers or freight forwarders, but they still face
a major expertise and knowledge gap. Document and spreadsheet-based trade
compliance reduces the ability to capture, aggregate, and maintain foundational
information for the organization. Without access to stored trade compliance
information, rationales, and notes, the ability to share and utilize underlying
knowledge compromises the sharing of information and expertise, thus reducing
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
the effectiveness of the trade compliance function.
17
IT SUPPORT
In the section, Master Data for Trade Compliance:
Unique Needs Require Unique Solutions, we
discussed why trade compliance exists in a world that
is totally different from mainstream organizational
activities. It is because of these differences that trade
compliance is poorly understood and undervalued by
management.
Additionally, it is this lack of executive level that is the primary reason why trade
compliance receives very low priority in the organization. This is often reflected in
the support, or lack thereof, that IT provides to trade compliance teams.
The language of trade compliance is unique. The solutions required to interact
with customs, customs brokers, and freight forwarders are often arcane, highly
procedural, and restrictive. The constraints are difficult to explain (even from the
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
knowledge provider), difficult to understand, and even more difficult to implement.
It is because of its unique and relatively complex requirements that trade
compliance ranks very low on the IT scale. This poor level of IT support is true even
when companies have enterprise GTM.
18
System-Driven Trade
Compliance Master Data
Drives Accuracy, Accessibility,
Timeliness, and Efficiency
The importance of trade compliance master data management is far-reaching and
extends beyond the compliance silo. Its potential impact on sourcing, purchasing,
sales, inventory management, and finance is considerable, but often poorly
understood or appreciated. The importance of master data in reducing product cost
can be profound from both a competitive and profit perspective.
However, to deliver on the promise of master data in the trade compliance area,
supporting product and account records must be easy to create and manage, be
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
highly accurate, be accessible to support collaboration, have secure access control,
require minimal manual intervention, and be virtually IT free.
19
THE IMPORTANCE OF MASTER DATA TO
MASTERING TRADE COMPLIANCE
Within the trade compliance function, system-controlled master data significantly
increases accuracy, simplifies product and account compliance, enhances
customs broker management, supports reporting and analytics, delivers document
management, streamlines workflow, and ensures customs and PGA compliance.
Significantly
System-driven master data management means
Increases
that the required trade compliance activity can be
Accuracy
executed where it is practical, and controlled where
it is logical. This means that authorized individuals
with specific expertise (e.g., product classification,
country of origin determination, FTA qualification,
etc.) are able to provide the required information to
the system. By granting designated internal experts
access to the product and account masters, as
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
appropriate, accuracy is increased.
With trade compliance oversight ensuring data accuracy, there is one version of the
master data truth at any point in time. This drives better company/broker interaction
and results.
Simplifies
Trade compliance requires product attributes that
product and
significantly extend the standard product master
account
detail maintained in an enterprise, purchase order,
management
or accounting solution. Although import and export
and
activities are often delivered locally in collaboration
compliance
with local customs brokers and freight forwarders,
delivering adequate oversight for multi-jurisdictional
product descriptions and classification is necessary to
ensure corporate trade compliance.
20
A system-driven trade compliance-oriented product master allows for:
Increased Definition of the Product — Customs and PGA product
descriptions; customs and PGA units of measure control; full HS
classification, management and history; online access to GRIs, notes;
supported rulings; notifications of HS changes; PGA oversight and
controlled PGA profiles
BOM (Bills of Material) Management — Supports Country of Origin
determinations, FTA Qualification, Duty Drawback management
Centralized Multi-Country Classification Management
Partner Government Agency Regulatory Management
Document Management
Access Control and Security
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
Documented History
21
Managing master data in a central database environment minimizes errors,
eliminates most manual data entry, and increases record management and
control. Database-driven master data results in simplified processes and increased
compliance,
Supports
Trade compliance processes are segmented into
Integrated
discrete activities and systemic processes. Whether
Trade
activities are discrete or systemic, master data is
Compliance
necessary to provide the structures to automate
Processes
and streamline these processes. Discrete activities
are specific (e.g., product classification, FTA
qualification, country of origin determination, denied
party screening, license determination, etc.). From a
systems perspective, master data:
Supports automatic system-generated customs
import and export entry files and documentation
Increases accuracy of master data at customs
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
brokers
Reduces entry errors or omissions
Reduces post summary correction activity
Centralizes information and documentation
storage
Provides cross-functional accessibility and
collaboration
Enables Multi-
Accurate master data is essential for supporting
Level Audit
internal customs and PGA entry management, which
Control
enables the ability to pre-audit or post-audit broker
entries.
22
With automated master data management, access to records is tightly controlled
and a full history is visible for audit purposes.
Increases
System-driven master data management provides a
Knowledge
central repository for all information and supporting
Transfer
documentation for product and accounts. Systemdriven master data control provides a historical
context to all activities supporting the creation and
maintenance of master data records, including
anecdotal notations.
Reduces Risk
Compliance is fundamentally about reducing the
organizational risk exposure. Trade compliance is
tasked with ensuring that the organization practices
“reasonable care” in alignment with customs and PGA
requirements. At its core, “reasonable care” is driven
by procedural controls and standardized processes.
Foundational to ensuring “reasonable care” is data
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
control and accuracy. Needless to say, master data
is essential to practicing “reasonable care” and
reducing trade compliance risk.
23
Five Major Benefits
of Trade Compliance
Master Data Control
Master data, when designed to support trade compliance,
has the potential to drive trade compliance activities and
increase untapped value opportunities. Without strong
mastery of master data from a trade compliance perspective,
trade compliance and the broader organization are missing
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
opportunities to harvest some very low hanging fruit.
01
Control
At its core, the effectiveness and capability of trade
compliance is measured by its ability to ensure that
all trade compliance information is reliable and that its
processes are controlled and documented. Ensuring
that trade compliance information is accurate requires
expertise, understanding, and standardized work
practices. In trade compliance, control starts with master
data because all downstream activities and processes are
dependent on the quality of the underlying information.
With controlled and reliable master data, the trade
compliance group becomes a trusted and valuable
resource for other internal operations teams.
24
02
Collaboration — Internal
Collaboration is an internal activity. It is about two or
more individuals or teams working together to achieve a
common goal. Within a company, there are individuals or
departments that need product and account details that
only trade compliance has in order to make decisions.
The ability to collaborate and share the required trade
compliance information across functional groups in
a dynamic and real-time environment enhances and
accelerates decision-making processes. Without the
proper information at the right time, total organizational
effectiveness is compromised.
By providing the trade compliance product and account details necessary
to actively support the operational teams in making sourcing, sales, product
development, and financial decisions, the organization is able to better optimize
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
total organizational objectives.
For most organizations, standard enterprise systems do not provide the ability
to manage the trade compliance detail. Moreover, the default solution—the
spreadsheet—is inadequate to support a collaborative environment for sharing
trade compliance information.
Providing a collaborative environment that enables trade compliance to support
these complementary teams requires centralized master data that is accessible,
accurate, and timely.
25
03
Communication — External
Whereas collaboration is internal, communication is an
external function. It is more about sharing information
to support someone in their work—not about achieving
a shared objective. While this might sound like a subtle
distinction, it is important.
In order to communicate effectively and efficiently, trade compliance information
(e.g., product descriptions, classification details, registration codes, units of
measure, country of origin, etc.) must be accurate, timely, and available. Interactions
between trade compliance and the external world (e.g., suppliers, customers,
customs brokers, freight forwarders, customs or PGAs, etc.) is always about specific
products and account details. This product and account detail is augmented with
related operational supply chain information (e.g., transportation and warehouse
details), trade (e.g., pricing and payment terms), and financial reconciliation details.
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
With strong master data control communication can be more precise from the third
parties perspective and improve the flow of products through the global supply
chain.
26
04
Independence
Trade compliance independence is all about reducing
the reliance on external actors that are part of the
organization’s trade compliance ecosystem. True
trade compliance independence is achieved when a
shipper has total control over the critical information
and processes necessary to manage external service
providers.
Essential to setting up trade compliance independence is mastery of the product
and account records. With full mastery of these basic trade compliance records, it is
possible to implement internal systems and processes, streamline communications,
and exercise the oversight of external service providers that are the hallmarks of
true independence.
Master data is essential to the ability to share information with these external
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
customs and PGA-facing actors. With strong master data capabilities, the dependent
relationship between a shipper and its external providers shifts significantly in favor
of the shipper.
05
Optionality
Optionality is defined as the right—not the obligation—to
take action. For most trade compliance teams, time is
the rarest commodity. Because they are time challenged,
trade compliance teams often lack the opportunity
to proactively consider the options available that will
improve the results of their efforts.
27
For trade compliance teams, the lack of time to consider—not to mention execute
options—is a direct result of not having the appropriate tools to support their work
activities.
As mentioned above, enterprise master data supported by spreadsheets does
not provide the product and account orientation or granularity required for trade
compliance efficiency. As a result, the trade compliance professional struggles to
have the time to actively review available options and improve company outcomes.
The options that many trade compliance teams do not and cannot even
consider because of constraints include:
Reviewing HS classifications to ensure optimal duty application
Reviewing FTA opportunities, as well as opportunities for product sourcing
and network design
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
Duty mitigation opportunities like FTZ, TIB, or duty drawback
Trade risk avoidance due to product or account compliance (e.g., forced/slave
labor, money laundering, ownership, hazmat decs, etc.)
Broker management
Self-filing vs. broker filing
Reporting and analytics
The options available to the company can be greater depending on the
organization’s maturity. Taking advantage of options that improve effectiveness
increases trade compliance’s full potential to become an incredible resource for the
organization, including generating sustainable revenue enhancement and net profit
improvement through customs duty mitigation strategies.
28
The 3rdwave
Master Data
Solution for Trade
Compliance
The 3rdwave Master Data solution for trade compliance
is specifically designed to complement enterprise
master data with the data elements required by trade
compliance teams to support and optimize their
work activity. It is also designed, if required, to be a
comprehensive enterprise master data solution. This
comprehensive orientation provides a unique solution
that delivers unparalleled depth and control of master
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
data for trade compliance.
The 3rdwave Master Data solution provides centralized
master data management that supports trade
compliance professionals in defining a product and/
or account with the attributes necessary to interface
with enterprise systems, customs brokers, freight
forwarders, customs, and PGAs. Centralized trade
data delivers the control that ensures compliance
oversight and accountability across the organization
so that information can be confidently shared with
any authorized user, regardless of function. 3rdwave
provides a level of data control that spreadsheets are
incapable of providing, and which enterprise systems
rarely address (unless they have a GTM module).
29
The 3rdwave Product Master Data integrates multi-country product classifications,
customs and PGA tariff units, PGA profiles, FTA and special program details, GRIs
and notes, suppliers, and countries of origin into a single control file. Complex
Bills of Material (BoMs) are managed within the product master data, thus
providing access to all components and the related underlying trade compliance
data. It provides document storage, internal note management, and a detailed
user usage log.
The 3rdwave Account Master provides comprehensive account control targeted
for trade compliance. It provides the single record of an account from multiple
perspectives, thus ensuring that however an account relates to the organization,
it is efficiently managed (e.g., under a single account code, an account can be a
supplier, manufacturer, customer, warehouse, carrier, or other entity). The account
master supports multi-contact relationships and the underlying contact details,
including addresses, trade terms (INCO), financial terms, and default transaction
currency. Customs registration number control (e.g., IRS, IOR, SSN, etc.), PGA
registration control (e.g., FDA, TTB, etc.), document control, and specific account
conditions (e.g., purchase or sales) are centrally managed. It provides document
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
storage, internal note management, and a detailed user usage log.
In short, 3rdwave provides the most comprehensive data sets for master data
control.
30
Why 3rdwave
for Trade
Compliance?
Database-driven master data centralizes
all trade compliance-related data and
supporting documents, thus delivering a
level of control and value not possible with
spreadsheets. However, that is only the
beginning of the value proposition of master
data for trade compliance.
Master data that is designed with broader
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
outcomes in mind, (e.g., support for trade
compliance processes, entry control, third
party management, metrics and analytics,
and internal collaboration) exponentially
increase the value proposition of the trade
compliance function.
3rdwave’s Master Data solution exemplifies that paradigm. It is designed as
a standalone module and fully integrates with other 3rdwave modules, thus
supporting daily activities that define trade compliance functions. The tight
integration of master data with operational support optimizes processes that deliver
streamlined workflow, reporting, analytics, collaboration, and communication.
31
3rdwave Master Data provides the gateway for automating other trade compliance
activities such as regulatory import/export entry filing (e.g., broker, PGA, ISF), entry
validation, automated self-filing, free trade or country of origin qualification, and
duty drawback preparation.
By managing all necessary trade compliance data in a centralized database,
3rdwave dramatically increases data and document control, supports process
optimization, and improves cross-functional collaboration and interorganizational
communication.
The bottom line is that 3rdwave Master Data allows the trade compliance team to
increase control, drive efficiencies, extend effectiveness, and increase its value
MASTER DATA FOR TRADE COMPLIANCE - A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
within and beyond the organization.