Analyzing Footwear ERP: Key Strategies for Data Governance and Privacy Protection

Under the sweep of the digital wave, the digital transformation process of the footwear industry is constantly accelerating. As the core hub of digital management in the footwear industry, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are gathering massive amounts of data. These data cover various aspects from raw material procurement, production process monitoring, product sales to customer relationship maintenance, and their scale and complexity are increasing day by day. However, the dramatic increase in data volume has also brought many challenges. How to establish a sound data governance system to ensure the accuracy, consistency, security, and availability of data has become a key issue that shoe companies urgently need to solve. At the same time, in the context of globalization, cross-border data flows are becoming increasingly frequent, and strict data privacy protection regulations, such as the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), have brought new compliance pressures to footwear companies in ERP applications. How to fully utilize the value of data while complying with regulatory requirements, balancing data utilization and privacy protection, avoiding data security risks, and maintaining the legal and compliant operation of enterprises has become a cutting-edge research topic on the digital development path of the footwear industry.

1、 Construction of ERP Data Governance System for Footwear Industry

（1） Development of data standards

A unified data standard is the foundation for achieving data accuracy and consistency. In the footwear ERP system, it is necessary to standardize and define various types of data, including product codes, material specifications, supplier information, customer information, etc. For example, establishing a unified product coding rule to ensure that each shoe has a unique and standardized code, avoiding inventory management confusion and sales data errors caused by inconsistent codes. By establishing a data standard library, it provides standardized basis for data entry and usage for various departments of the enterprise, thereby improving the quality of data.

（2） Data Quality Management Process

Establishing a comprehensive data quality management process is crucial. This includes data entry review, regular cleaning, and data quality monitoring. In the data entry process, strict verification rules should be set, such as data format and required fields, to prevent erroneous data from entering the system. Regularly clean the data in the ERP system, delete expired, duplicate, and erroneous data, and ensure the timeliness and accuracy of the data. At the same time, using data quality monitoring tools, real-time monitoring of data quality indicators such as data integrity, accuracy, etc., and timely rectification of any abnormalities found.

（3） Metadata and Master Data Management

Metadata is data about data, which defines the structure, source, meaning, and other information of the data. Through effective metadata management, enterprises can better understand and utilize data in ERP systems. Master data refers to the data of core business entities of an enterprise, such as customers, suppliers, products, etc. Implement master data management to ensure consistency and uniqueness of master data across the entire enterprise, avoiding business conflicts and decision-making errors caused by inconsistent data. For example, establishing a unified customer master data management system, integrating customer information from various channels, and providing reliable data support for precision marketing and customer service.

2、 Data Privacy Protection in Footwear ERP

（1） Regulatory compliance strategy

In the current era of frequent cross-border data flow, footwear companies must have a deep understanding of and comply with relevant data privacy protection regulations, such as GDPR. Firstly, enterprises need to comprehensively sort out their data processing activities, clarify which data belongs to personal data, as well as the collection, storage, use, and transmission methods of this data. Then, in accordance with regulatory requirements, develop corresponding data privacy policies and processes to ensure compliance with regulatory standards at every stage of data processing. For example, when collecting personal data from customers, it is necessary to obtain their explicit consent and inform them of the purpose and storage period of the data.

（2） Technical means guarantee

Adopting advanced technological means is an important measure to protect data privacy. In the footwear ERP system, encryption technology can be used to encrypt and store sensitive data for transmission, preventing data from being stolen or tampered with during the transmission process. For example, the customer's ID number, bank card information and other sensitive data are encrypted, and only authorized personnel can decrypt and view them. At the same time, by utilizing access control technology, different users' access permissions to data are strictly restricted, and corresponding data access levels are assigned based on employees' job responsibilities and business needs to ensure that data can only be accessed by legitimate users.

（3） Emergency response to data security incidents

Despite taking various preventive measures, data security incidents may still occur. Therefore, footwear companies need to establish a comprehensive emergency response mechanism for data security incidents. Develop detailed emergency plans and clarify the response process and division of responsibilities in the event of security incidents such as data breaches or system attacks. Regularly conduct emergency drills to enhance the ability of enterprises to respond to data security incidents, ensuring that measures can be taken quickly in the event of an incident to reduce losses and impacts.

3、 Balancing data utilization and privacy protection

（1） Application of privacy enhanced computing technology

Privacy enhanced computing technologies, such as multi-party secure computing and federated learning, provide new solutions for balancing data utilization and privacy protection. In the footwear industry, these technologies can be used to achieve the "available invisible" data. For example, through multi-party secure computation, different enterprises can jointly conduct data analysis and model training without leaking raw data, explore the potential value of data, and protect the data privacy of all parties.

（2） Data classification and grading management based on business scenarios

Classify and manage data according to different business scenarios. For some non sensitive data, its value can be fully utilized under certain rules to provide support for enterprise decision-making. For sensitive data, such as customers' personal privacy data and companies' trade secret data, stricter protection measures are taken. In this way, while ensuring data security, the value of data can be maximized.

（3） Internal culture and awareness cultivation of enterprises

It is crucial to cultivate a cultural awareness of data governance and privacy protection within the enterprise. Through training and promotion, raise employees' awareness of data governance and privacy protection, and enable them to understand the importance of data security and their responsibilities in the data processing process. Only when all employees establish a correct data concept can various measures for data governance and privacy protection be effectively implemented in daily work.

With the continuous deepening of digitalization in the footwear industry, data governance and privacy protection have become indispensable and important components of footwear ERP applications. By building a sound data governance system, following strict data privacy protection regulations, adopting advanced technological means and scientific management methods, footwear enterprises can effectively protect data security and privacy while fully utilizing the value of data, and achieve sustainable development of the enterprise. In the future, with the continuous advancement of technology and the increasingly perfect regulations, footwear enterprises need to continue to pay attention to cutting-edge research results in the fields of data governance and privacy protection, continuously optimize their management strategies and technological applications, in order to adapt to the development needs of the digital age.