Item Data Synchronization Across Departments in a Complex Industrial Context : Current Practices, Challenges, Opportunities for Improvement and Potential Efficiency Gains

Sammanfattning

Organizations operating in complex industrial environments depend on shared item-related information to support activities such as engineering, documentation, procurement, and lifecycle-related work. When this information is distributed across departments and technical systems, maintaining coordination, reliability, and continuity becomes difficult. This study examines how item data synchronization is managed across departments in a complex industrial context, focusing on current practices, challenges, opportunities for improvement, and potential efficiency gains. A qualitative single-case study was conducted, based on nine semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings show that item data synchronization is currently maintained through manual handling, informal coordination, individual knowledge, and local workarounds rather than through a fully integrated, widely governed process. These practices make daily work possible, but they also create vulnerability when synchronization depends on individual experience and repeated manual checks. The main challenges identified are fragmented systems, unclear responsibilities, inconsistent updates, restricted information access, and process rigidity. The study concludes that item data synchronization should be understood as a socio-technical coordination problem in which technical fragmentation and organizational ambiguity reinforce one another. The findings suggest that improvements should combine clearer ownership, source authority, review routines, update rules, and system support. Rather than assuming a single solution, the study proposes that improvement efforts should begin with a limited and assessable synchronization interface, where potential reductions in manual coordination, rework, and data uncertainty can be evaluated in practice.