ETIM in the HVAC industry

Flawless product master data are a prerequisite for product research and distribution, but also for service provision. Maximum search engine exposure in particular largely depends on good product data quality, e.g. for shops or catalogues. Hence, the implementation of a classification system with a clearly structured display of product data is an essential factor of data quality. The HVAC industry uses an open standard, ETIM. In this context, the ARGE takes care of the coordination and further development of ETIM in data quality management for its members.

ETIM standard

ETIM is an open article classification standard that facilitates a harmonized description of article features at international level. Originally developed for the electronic industry, in Europe the standard is also used in the HVAC industry (e.g. in Belgium and the Netherlands). In the Netherlands they already have an HVAC-specific classification with approx. 1,700 product classes. In 2015/2016, parts of the existing German basic translation of the model were revised and complemented by working groups formed by ARGE members and DGH. The results of this work were integrated in the ETIM 7 model version that has been available since 2017.

ETIM in the Data Quality Guideline

The current Data Quality Guideline governs all details on how to specify the classification in the article master data. In international data communication a special XML format (on the basis of BMEcat) can be used additionally. A data communication manual is provided by ETIM e.V. free of charge.