Horse meat scandal sheds light on importance of data quality in supply chains

The horse meat food scandal is providing an important opportunity for data management  teams to address something that might have been brushed under the rug in the past - the data quality supply chain, according to a recent post in the Ken O'Connor Data Consultant Blog.

O'Connor explains that just a few months ago, it was more difficult for employees and senior management to understand the importance of checking under the hood  to make sure data used in decision-making processes was of the highest quality and not simply trusting in its accuracy and completeness.

This is important for any organization that needs to trust its data, including retailers, financial services organizations and regulators, he writes. However, the recent scandal especially sheds light on the importance of regulating data quality in food supply chains. 

It's crucial that today's vendors uphold quality assurance measures, as their supply chains are becoming longer and more varied. Take The Cheesecake Factory, for example, which serves 200 different dishes in its 175 locations throughout the United States and three in the  Middle East, according to eWeek. To better track the deluge of information being generated and processed in each of these restaurants, the chain has brought on IBM to leverage big data analytics and help ensure its products are always of the highest quality and contain safe ingredients.