Measurements can be obtained for shipments from manufacturers to distributors, distributor sales to retailers and retail movement through stores. In addition to movement data, corporations frequently have promotion and couponing data, demographic data, pricing data, media data, consumer data, etc. These data come from multiple sources, are collected through different techniques, measure different time periods and consist of different geographic definitions. Essentially it is data, not information.
Data only becomes information when it is organized and actionable.
MSA turns data into information.