Prysmian Group has joined the ETIM North America (NA) standards association to help enhance and progress the ETIM classification standard for North American electrical products. Prysmian hopes their membership will encourage similar organizations to join ETIM NA and help advance the model for industry-wide benefit.
A global pioneer in ETIM Standardization, Prysmian’s commitment and involvement is fitting as the model approaches its 20th anniversary. ETIM was originally developed for Europe’s electro-technical sector, and its first product category was actually “Cables.” “The ETIM standards are fundamental for the most efficient classification and with that the access to exchange the correct data in multiple languages to make our cables, concepts and sustainable solutions visible and available in all search engines,” said Rob Van Veen, Prysmian Group Senior VP of Energy & Infrastructure.
Now offered in 17 languages, ETIM is used worldwide by manufacturers, distributors and end-users doing business in dozens of countries. A language-independent classification model, ETIM facilitates the flow of consistent, quality product information regardless of language or technology platform. According to ETIM NA’s Executive Director Mary Shaw, the success of the model starts with having product experts from manufacturers like Prysmian — as well as other “downstream” specialists like distributors —participate on ETIM NA-led committees to help refine product categories and their associated products, features and values.
Shaw says another benefit to manufacturers is that ETIM can help de-commoditize products, an issue for brands concerned with the state of their product data as distributed by current processes. She says that while it’s a global standard, ETIM is not just for international commerce. “Even those manufacturers, distributors and other industry professionals without global reach appreciate how ETIM helps streamline the communication of data and makes it easier to do business with their trading partners,” she said in the press release.
Product experts (PEs) from several ETIM NA member companies have been meeting virtually to advance the Power Distribution and Automation and Drives product categories for several months, and committee activity has just started around Wiring Devices/Lighting Controls and related product categories, with PE committees scheduled for these and other categories over the next several months.