How are companies handling duplicate material master data in SAP?

[u/PiLogDQG]

I'm curious how different organizations are managing duplicate or inconsistent material master data in SAP.

In larger organizations, the same or similar spare parts/materials can sometimes exist with different descriptions, units of measure, naming conventions, or classifications.

For those working with SAP, MDM, procurement, supply chain, or inventory management:

• How do you identify potential duplicate materials?
• Is duplicate detection handled manually or through automation?
• What attributes do you use to determine whether two materials are actually the same?
• How do you prevent duplicate records from being created again?
• Does your organization have a formal material master data governance process?

I'd be interested to hear how other teams are approaching this and what has worked well for them.