Manufacturing Master Data & Data Governance worked example

Duplicate Item Cost at 32% flags that are true duplicates: a worked example

Suppose flags that are true duplicates falls to 32%. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Estimate the cost of finding and resolving duplicate item master records, including merge effort and matching tooling.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Suspected duplicate item records: 800 item records (held at the documented default)
  • Merge and rework cost each: 22 $/record (held at the documented default)
  • Flags that are true duplicates: 32 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 45)
  • De-duplication tool and rules cost: 6,000 $ (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Total duplicate cost = item records x merge cost each x (true-duplicate % / 100) + tool and rules cost.
  • Total duplicate item cost works out to 11,632 $ at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Duplicate item cost per unit works out to 14.54 $ / piece at these inputs.
  • Variable duplicate item cost works out to 5,632 $ at these inputs.
  • Fixed duplicate item cost adder works out to 6,000 $ at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where flags that are true duplicates sits at 45% and the headline result is 13,920 $, this scenario comes in 16.44% below the baseline at 11,632 $.
  • It computes the total cost to remediate a population of suspected-duplicate item records, splitting variable merge cost from fixed tooling cost. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Total duplicate item cost: 11,632 $ (headline result)
  • Duplicate item cost per unit: 14.54 $ / piece
  • Variable duplicate item cost: 5,632 $
  • Fixed duplicate item cost adder: 6,000 $

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Duplicate Item Cost calculator, set flags that are true duplicates to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.