ETIM
ETIM is an open, international classification standard for technical products such as electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and building supplies. It assigns each product to a numbered class, then defines the exact features, units, and permitted values that class requires. Manufacturers publish ETIM-classified data, and distributors use it to build comparable catalogs and filterable search across brands.
What ETIM actually standardizes
ETIM stands for ElektroTechnisches Informations Modell. It originated in the Netherlands in the 1990s, out of the electrical wholesale trade. It is maintained by ETIM International, with country chapters handling translation and local adoption.
The model has four pieces:
| Building block | Code prefix | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | EC | Groups products that share one feature set | Miniature circuit breaker |
| Feature | EF | A single defined property of that class | Rated current |
| Value | EV | An allowed entry for a list-type feature | Tripping characteristic C |
| Unit | EU | The unit a numeric feature is expressed in | A (ampere) |
Every feature carries a type: alphanumeric (a pick from a controlled value list), logical (true/false), numeric, or range. The typing is the part that matters. "Rated current" is not free text, it is a number in amperes. "Suitable for isolation" is a boolean with two allowed states.
What an ETIM record looks like on a real part
Take a 3-pole, 20 A, C-curve miniature circuit breaker on a DIN rail. In a catalog without ETIM, that part lives as a description string and a few loose columns. Under ETIM, the class dictates the fields and the fields dictate the format.
| ETIM feature | Type | Value | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of poles | Numeric | 3 | — |
| Rated current | Numeric | 20 | A |
| Tripping characteristic | Alphanumeric | C | — |
| Rated breaking capacity | Numeric | 6,000 | A |
| Number of modular spacings | Numeric | 3 | — |
| Suitable for isolation | Logical | true | — |
Two consequences follow. A distributor can put "Rated current: 20 A" in a facet and every brand lands in the same bucket. And missing data becomes countable — every breaker with no tripping characteristic is a query result, not a vague feeling about catalog quality.
ETIM vs ECLASS, UNSPSC, and GPC
These four standards get named interchangeably in RFPs. They do not do the same job.
| Standard | Home turf | Depth | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| ETIM | Electrical, HVAC, plumbing, building supply | Class plus typed features and value lists | Distributor catalogs, faceted search, BMEcat exchange |
| ECLASS | Cross-industry, strong in German industrial and MRO | Class plus properties, four-level hierarchy | Procurement, engineering data |
| UNSPSC | Cross-industry commodity coding | Classification only, no attributes | Spend analysis, procurement reporting |
| GPC | Consumer goods, via GS1 and GDSN | Bricks plus attributes | Grocery and retail data sync |
A UNSPSC code tells your finance team what you bought. An ETIM class tells your website which filters to show. Most distributors carry several at once: UNSPSC for spend, ETIM for the shelf, an internal merchandising taxonomy for navigation. Keeping the mappings between them current is ongoing work.
Why ETIM data is hard to fill
The standard is well specified. The source material is not.
- Values live in PDFs. Rated breaking capacity sits on page 4 of a datasheet, inside a table, sometimes only in the dimensional drawing.
- Units do not match. A supplier publishes 3/4 in.; ETIM wants a numeric DN value or millimeters.
- Value lists are strict. "C-curve", "Char. C", and "Type C" all have to resolve to the single allowed EV value.
- Class choice is a judgment call. A breaker with integrated residual current protection belongs in a different class than a plain MCB, and the wrong class hands you the wrong feature set from the start.
- Coverage is uneven. Large brands ship clean ETIM or BMEcat files. The long tail ships a spec sheet and a price list.
Releases add their own drag. ETIM ships numbered versions, ETIM 7 and ETIM 8 among them, and each release changes the model under your data: classes are added, some are deprecated, features shift between classes, and value lists get revised.
So moving a catalog from ETIM 7 to ETIM 8 means remapping affected classes, rechecking feature assignments, and revalidating values against the new lists. Alongside that sits ETIM MC, the modelling classes layer for configurable and modular products. Both are recurring maintenance, and both compete for the same team that is still filling the long tail.
Where Anglera fits
Your PIM stores ETIM data — the class model, the features, the value lists. What it does not do is open the datasheet and decide the rated breaking capacity is 6,000 A.
Anglera does that work. It takes the ETIM class model for your categories, reads values out of manufacturer datasheets, spec tables, and supplier files, normalizes units, resolves free text into the allowed value list, and writes results back to the fields your PIM already has. Low-confidence values route to a human reviewer before they reach your catalog.
The PIM stays your system of record. Anglera keeps the ETIM fields filled as classes change and new suppliers arrive.
Frequently asked questions
What does ETIM stand for?
ETIM stands for ElektroTechnisches Informations Modell, a Dutch-origin standard now maintained by ETIM International. Despite the electrotechnical name, its scope has widened well beyond electrical goods to cover HVAC, plumbing, sanitary, tools, and general building supply. It is an open standard: the class and feature model is published and free to use, and country chapters localize feature and value names into many languages.
Is ETIM required in North America?
There is no legal requirement. ETIM has a North American chapter, and the model is most established in European electrical wholesale, where it is widely used to exchange product data between manufacturers and distributors. In North America, ETIM turns up in the onboarding requirements some wholesalers put to their suppliers. If you sell into electrical, HVAC, or building supply distribution, expect the question.
What is the difference between ETIM and ECLASS?
Both classify technical products and both attach properties to classes. ETIM is deepest in electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and building supply, and is built around distributor catalogs and faceted search. ECLASS is cross-industry, strong in German industrial and MRO procurement, and often used for engineering and purchasing data. Many suppliers maintain both, which makes mapping between the two an ongoing task.
Does my PIM handle ETIM classification automatically?
No. A PIM can import the ETIM class model, hold the features, and enforce the value lists. It will not open a supplier datasheet, find the rated breaking capacity, convert 3/4 in. to a DN value, or decide whether a part belongs in one class or a neighboring one. That reading and judgment is separate work, done alongside the PIM.
How do we get ETIM data from suppliers who do not provide it?
You extract it. Large brands often publish BMEcat files with ETIM classes and features already populated. The long tail sends a PDF datasheet and a price file. For those, values have to be pulled from spec tables and drawings, normalized to ETIM units, matched to the allowed value list, and reviewed where the source is ambiguous. That gap is usually most of your catalog by SKU count.