Building an ETIM integration
ETIM is the language in which the installation and electrical engineering sector describes products. If your articles aren't in ETIM, or you receive ETIM data but can't use it, you miss out on webshop filters, comparisons in quotes and a place in the data pool. Appfront builds ETIM integrations: classification, features and values in your ERP, PIM or webshop, and exchange with suppliers and customers on the same standard.
What is an ETIM product classification integration?
ETIM is an international model for classifying technical products. A product belongs to a class, and each class has a fixed set of features with fixed values and units. This way, a cable, a switch or a heat pump is described in the same way by every manufacturer and wholesaler. In the Netherlands, Ketenstandaard Bouw en Techniek manages the Dutch translation, and the 2BA data pool is built around ETIM.
Many companies only half use ETIM. The manufacturer supplies a file to the data pool, but their own ERP and website don't know the features. The wholesaler receives ETIM data, but their webshop filters on descriptions someone typed in long ago. A new version of the model, with new classes or changed features, means a conversion nobody enjoys doing.
We build custom solutions because every company needs ETIM for something different. A manufacturer wants to supply products correctly and completely, a wholesaler wants to bring together data from hundreds of suppliers, a webshop wants filters that work. Which systems you have, which classes apply to your range and who you exchange data with determine what the integration needs to do.
One standard
Classes, features, values.
In your systems
ERP, PIM and webshop.
Exchange
With suppliers and customers.
How we build your ETIM product classification integration
We start with your product range and your systems: which articles, which ETIM classes, where the product data currently lives, and who you exchange it with. Then we build a first version for part of the range, so you can see how complete your data is and where it gets stuck. You work with it for a while. The rest of the range, the exchange with data pools and customers, and the filters in the webshop follow once that goes well. After that, we keep the integration up to date when the model or your systems change.
Classes and systems.
Classification and checks.
Data pool, customers, webshop.
Go-live, monitoring, and maintenance when things change.
What an ETIM product classification integration actually does
The components below appear in almost every ETIM integration. Which ones you need depends on your role in the supply chain.
Classification
Article to ETIM class.
Attributes
Values and units.
Validation
What is missing per class.
Import
Files from suppliers.
Submitting
To data pool and customer.
Versions
Moving to a new model.
Who we build an ETIM product classification integration for
The integration is intended for companies in the technical trades that need to supply, receive or use product data in ETIM. The larger the range and the more partners you have, the more it delivers.
Manufacturers
Supply complete data.
Wholesalers
Bring many suppliers together.
Webshops
Filters that work.
Software companies
ETIM in their package.
Technology and integrations
This page is about ETIM in your own systems. For the data pool, see our page on the 2BA integration, for managing product information our page on a PIM portal, and for wholesalers our page on wholesale software. You can read about our approach on building custom software.
Why Appfront for your ETIM product classification integration?
Incomplete product data, filters that don't work, or a conversion that has to be done by hand with every version cost a technical company sales and time. That is what we build on: ETIM in the systems where it is used, checks for completeness, and exchange that carries over with every version.
Easier to find
Filters on real features.
Less manual work
Done right once, used everywhere.
Ready for the supply chain
Supply data without converting it.
Security and privacy for an ETIM product classification integration
The integration processes product data, prices and sometimes agreements with suppliers and customers. Access is set up per role, keys for data pools and partners are stored encrypted, and every exchange and change is logged.
The part we build runs in a European data centre or in your own environment, with encrypted storage and daily backups. Prices and terms only go to the party they are intended for.
Frequently asked questions about an ETIM product classification integration
Questions companies ask before getting started.
ETIM is an international model for classifying technical products. Every product falls into a class with a fixed set of features, values and units, so it is described in the same way by every manufacturer and wholesaler. In the Netherlands, Ketenstandaard Bouw en Techniek manages the Dutch translation.
2BA is a data pool where manufacturers supply their product data and wholesalers and installers retrieve it, organised according to ETIM. An ETIM integration is about ETIM in your own systems: classifying, checking, using and exchanging. They often go together.
Yes. We propose a class for each article based on your descriptions and existing data, and an employee who knows the range approves or adjusts it. The software then fills in which features are still missing per class.
When a new version is released, classes and features can change. The integration shows which articles are affected and converts what can be done automatically. Anything that needs a decision goes onto a list for a member of staff.
Yes. Data that suppliers provide in ETIM, via a data pool or as a file, is imported and linked to your own articles. The software shows where data is missing or inconsistent, so you know which supplier to chase.
Yes. With ETIM features, a web shop can filter on real properties, such as power, voltage or ingress protection rating, and compare products from different brands side by side. The integration supplies this data to your web shop or your PIM.
For manufacturers, wholesalers and web shops with a large technical range and their own systems that don't use ETIM, or only partly. If you use a package that fully supports ETIM and you're not missing anything, you don't need custom software.
Your product data in ETIM, everywhere?
Tell us which systems you use and how you currently work with ETIM. We'll show you how the integration can handle it.