ETIM is an open international classification standard for technical products. Each product is assigned to an ETIM class, and each class sets the features, units and value lists that describe it. Distributors use ETIM to receive supplier data in one structure, run consistent filters and exchange data with wholesalers and buying groups.
ETIM classification is not a one-off tagging job. It is a data model you adopt, map your catalogue to and maintain release after release. Below is how the model works, why the requests are arriving, and how we classify a distributor catalogue in practice.
What is ETIM?
ETIM International describes ETIM as the international classification standard for technical products. According to its about page, ETIM was first developed for the Dutch electrotechnical sector. It now has twenty member organisations representing twenty-one countries, and the model is available in seventeen languages.
The model itself is simple to describe. ETIM International sets out the structure on its model information page:
- Groups and classes. ETIM is a two-level model. A class describes similar products and bundles products from different manufacturers. Each class sits in one group, which mainly exists to make classes easier to manage.
- Features. Each class carries the features that describe its technical characteristics. Each feature has a type. Alphanumeric means a fixed list of values, logical means yes or no, numeric means one number, and range means two numbers that set a minimum and maximum.
- Values. Alphanumeric features use a fixed list of permitted values. You pick from the list. You do not type your own.
- Units. Numeric and range features always need a unit of measurement. Counts such as “number of poles” do not.
- Identifiers. Every class, feature, value and unit has a unique, language-independent code. That is what lets a Dutch manufacturer and a UK wholesaler exchange the same data without translating it.
ETIM is deliberately narrow. The ETIM UK and Ireland FAQs say there is no provision for pricing, pictures or free-text marketing copy. It describes what a product is technically, and nothing else.
ETIM International governs the model. National organisations manage it locally. ETIM UK and Ireland is the national organisation member here. It lists three UK sectors. Electrotechnical is led by the Electrical Distributors’ Association. HVAC and plumbing, and building materials, are both led by the Builders Merchants’ Federation.
On releases, ETIM International’s release policy says official releases come out about every three years. The current official release is ETIM 10.0, released in December 2024. Between official releases, ETIM publishes dynamic releases that include new and changed classes, flagged with change codes. Each local ETIM organisation decides whether to use them. The ETIM 11.0 release plan puts the final release of ETIM 11.0 on 1 December 2026.
Why are distributors being asked for ETIM data?
Because the rest of the supply chain is standardising on it. The ETIM UK and Ireland FAQs say many distributors now require manufacturers to supply ETIM-classified product data. In our experience the request reaches a distributor from both sides. Wholesalers and buying groups you sell through want your data in ETIM. Your own suppliers start sending it to you in ETIM, whether your systems are ready or not.
The exchange formats matter as much as the classification. The ETIM UK and Ireland FAQs describe two:
- BMEcat is an XML format for transferring catalogue data. It carries ETIM data alongside part numbers, descriptions, links to images and datasheets, and packaging and logistics data. It is not designed for manual editing. A PIM system generates it, and data pools such as EDATA import it.
- ETIM xChange is a JSON format suited to transfer by API. ETIM International has released xChange in place of BMEcat as its recommended format, and some countries still use national formats alongside it.
Excel still turns up. The ETIM UK FAQs accept it for basic data such as class codes, but advise against it for features and values. We agree. A spreadsheet with 300 columns of ETIM features is where unit errors and free text creep in.
The third reason is your own website. The ETIM UK FAQs point to consistent, filterable product data as a benefit for wholesalers. If thirty suppliers all send rated current as a number in amps, one filter works across the whole range. If they send it as free text, the filter only shows the products someone has tidied by hand. It is a complaint we hear often about electrical product data.
ETIM or your own taxonomy?
Both. They do different jobs.
ETIM classes group products by technical similarity so data can be exchanged. Your website categories group products the way your customers shop. Those are rarely the same thing. A trade buyer looking for “outdoor lighting” does not think in ETIM classes, and should not have to.
Keep a customer-facing taxonomy for navigation. We cover how to build one in our guide to product taxonomy design. Use ETIM beneath it as the attribute model and the exchange format. Then map the two. One web category will often hold products from several ETIM classes. One ETIM class may appear under two web categories.
You will also hold attributes ETIM does not cover: marketing copy, brand, images, compliance documents and your own merchandising fields. Those live in your own schema next to the ETIM features. Our article on product attributes covers how to structure that wider set. Designing the mapping between your navigation and ETIM is core to our taxonomy and attribution work.
How do you classify a catalogue to ETIM?
We run it in six steps. The order matters, because each step depends on the one before.
Scope the categories that need it first
Do not start with the whole catalogue. Start with the categories your trading partners ask for, the ranges that drive most revenue, and the products that fall inside ETIM’s sectors. A distributor with 40,000 SKUs might find that 12,000 of them carry most of the demand for ETIM data. Classify those first, prove the process, then widen it.
Map your categories to ETIM classes
Work at category level before product level. Take each of your categories and find the ETIM class or classes that fit. The ETIM UK FAQs point manufacturers to the Classification Management Tool (CMT) to find classes and review UK English versions. ETIM synonyms help here, since a class can carry alternative names. Then check the exceptions product by product. Mixed categories, such as “accessories”, always need splitting.
Map existing attributes to ETIM features and units
Line up the attributes you already hold against each class’s features. Check the feature type as you go. If ETIM expects a range, a single number will not do. If it expects a value from a list, map every variant you hold (“Wht”, “white”, “WHITE”) to the one ETIM value. Convert units at this stage too. A length held in centimetres needs converting if the feature expects millimetres.
Fill the gaps from supplier data and datasheets
This is the biggest share of the effort, every time. Ask suppliers for ETIM data in BMEcat or ETIM xChange first. With many distributors now requiring it, the data may already exist. Where suppliers cannot provide it, the features are usually sitting in a PDF datasheet. Someone has to extract them, map them and check them. Our supplier data onboarding service exists for exactly this. In our delivery, SKULaunch decodes supplier ETIM files into readable attributes and extracts attributes from datasheets. Low-confidence results go to a review queue, and people check them before anything is approved.
Validate values and units before anything goes live
Run rules before you publish or send data on. Every alphanumeric feature should hold a permitted value. Every numeric and range feature should hold a number and a unit. Ranges should have a lower value below the upper. ETIM International also offers validation tools for xChange and BMEcat files on its website. Use them before a trading partner finds the errors for you.
Plan for new releases
Classes, features and values change between releases. With ETIM 11.0 planned for December 2026, a catalogue classified to ETIM 10.0 today will need a review. Record the release against your classification data. Read the change codes when a release lands. Agree with your main trading partners when you will move, and do it in one controlled step.
How long does it take and who does the work?
It depends on three things: how many SKUs are in scope, how many suppliers they come from, and the state of those suppliers’ data. A range where most manufacturers already send ETIM in BMEcat is mostly mapping and validation. A range where most data sits in PDF datasheets is mostly extraction and review. Two catalogues of the same size can need very different effort.
There are three ways to resource it:
- In-house. Your own product data team does the work. This builds knowledge, but classification competes with day-to-day catalogue work and usually loses.
- Managed service. A specialist team classifies, extracts and validates against an agreed scope. You review samples and own the sign-off.
- A mix. A specialist team clears the backlog and sets up the rules. Your team takes on new products and release changes.
We usually recommend the mix. Our classification programmes are delivered from our centre of excellence in Hyderabad, which has delivered over 50 PIM projects across numerous PIM platforms. Whoever does the work, someone in your business needs to own the ETIM standard after go-live. Without an owner, the data drifts within a release.
Common ETIM mistakes
Using ETIM classes as website navigation. ETIM is built for exchange, not for browsing. Class names read like a technical index, and customers do not shop that way. Keep your own taxonomy on the front end.
Free text in value-list features. If a feature has a fixed list of values, typing your own defeats the point. Free text breaks filters, fails validation and cannot be matched by a trading partner.
Mixing releases. Half the catalogue on one release and half on another means features that do not line up. Partners receive data they cannot load cleanly. Pick one release and move together.
Ignoring units. A number without its unit is not data. Numeric and range features always need one, and mismatched units are one of the errors we find most often in supplier files.
Frequently asked questions
An open international classification standard for technical products. Each ETIM class defines the features, units and values used to describe the products in it.
Yes. ETIM International’s licence information says the model is free to use for everyone under the Open Data Commons Attribution Licence. Some national translation files may be restricted to members. National organisations such as ETIM UK and Ireland offer membership and support.
The release your main trading partners ask for. Agree it with them, classify to it, and plan the move when a new release comes out. ETIM 10.0 is the current official release, and ETIM 11.0 is planned for 1 December 2026.
No. Keep a customer-facing taxonomy for navigation and use ETIM underneath it for attributes and data exchange.
Ask for it in an ETIM format such as BMEcat or ETIM xChange. Where suppliers cannot provide it, extract features from their datasheets, map them and review them.
No. It started in the Dutch electrotechnical sector and now covers other technical sectors, including HVAC and plumbing, building materials and shipbuilding.
Get a free Product Data Performance Snapshot and see which gaps are holding back your filters and supplier onboarding. We score 50 of your SKUs and send the results back within five working days. Request your Snapshot, or read how our taxonomy and attribution service handles ETIM mapping.