Several major electrical manufacturers and one software company recently joined ETIM North America, Salt Lake City, UT. ANAMET Electrical, nVent, Southwire and TradeTech Solutions, a software platform serving the business needs of manufacturers, agents and distributors, will be integrating their data into ETIM North America’s product classification system. More than 30 electrical companies participate in ETIM NA.
TradeTech promote its service, the TTS Platform, as the “electrical manufacturers’ reps ERP system.” This all-in-one rep solution provides the five key business functions that reps need to effectively compete in today’s world -- quotations, sales analysis, CRM, total order entry and marketing.
Matt Scarborough, TradeTech Solutions’ president, said in the press release, “Our goal is to help reps do business seamlessly on behalf of their manufacturers. We want to take friction out of the administrative process of selling electrical material to, and through, the channel. As manufacturers adopt the ETIM standards TTS will be able to integrate the information into our platform, helping get the right information to the right people easily. It will also help with manufacturer digital transformation initiatives, product searches and more. The National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association (NEMRA) has been involved with ETIM North America since its inception and TTS, as a service provider to NEMRA, wants to be aligned with the needs of its customers.”
As a service provider member of ETIM NA, TradeTech Solutions can attend Product Expert Groups to share expertise but cannot vote on product standards. Mary Shaw, executive director of ETIM North America, said in the press release, “TradeTech Solutions quickly understood ETIM NA’s vision to support the electrical industry ecosystem and to be an open platform that supports manufacturers, reps, distributors, contractors, engineers and architects and conceived how they could help facilitate this by being a conduit to the independent manufacturer representative community. The involvement of service providers is integral to ensuring that the ETIM standards will be successful.”
Jasneet Kaur, nVent’s VP of business development, said in the press release that the ETIM product classification model is the most simple and logical protocol for nVent and its customers around the world to use to support digital transformation and e-commerce initiatives. In the initial phase of the partnership, nVent will participate in the power distribution and automation and drives PE groups. As ETIM North America expands into cable management systems and grounding and works to develop standards for those product categories, nVent will play a key role in those groups.
“Having nVent join ETIM NA is very important as they are a prominent North American and global company with leading brands that are important to distributors and their customers,” said ETIM’s Shaw in the press release. “nVent’s leadership will help our members accelerate product attribution, particularly within the enclosures and cable management categories.”
John Richardson, VP of sales, ANAMET Canada, said in the release that while ANAMET is not a large company, it’s important that all companies, regardless of size, participate in an open standards process. John Cunningham, ANAMET’s VP of sales and marketing, agreed with Richardson’s assessment and feels that their collaborative effort, both north and south of the Canada/U.S. border, will strengthen their position as a leader in product descriptor standards with their downstream customers. As a direct member, ANAMET will they have access to the ETIM developed tools and participate in many ETIM NA Product Expert (PE) Groups. Currently ANAMET plans on being involved in the conduit product expert group in conjunction with other companies such as Atkore, Electri-Flex, Prysmian, Southwire, and others alongside distributors including Sonepar, WESCO, Rexel Canada, Graybar and McNaughton McKay.
Southwire’s recent decision to join ETIM will help the group overcome the challenge of standardizing product attributes in the wire and cable business. According to the press release, the wire and cable segment has historically been challenged to assign product attributes for product classification and e-commerce utilization purposes. ETIM North America’s Product Expert Group for wire & cable now brings together Southwire with Prysmian, Priority Wire & Cable, Atkore, Electri-Flex, ANAMET and Service Wire to develop standards for the electrical industry. Southwire will initially participate in the wire & cable Product Expert Group but will also participate in others as appropriate for their product categories.
Phil Tuggle, senior VP of business transformation at Southwire, said in the press release, “I have been a proponent of the ETIM model for a number of years. It’s what the wire & cable industry needs to enable us to achieve digital transformation benefits that will benefit all elements of our channel. ETIM NA’s vision of utilizing industry-sourced features and values and then enabling them to be used throughout the industry will benefit all. Our team is committed to representing Southwire on the Product Expert Groups to help accelerate refinement and development.”
ETIM’s Shaw said in the release that it’s “gratifying to see another major company in a product category that is commonly considered a ‘commodity’ recognize that industry-developed standards that are globally recognized and locally refined can help a company achieve their digital transformation objectives.”
Shaw believes it’s important manufacturers and distributors of all sizes and product types who recognize that the electrical ecosystem is undergoing a digital transformation are encouraged to be part of the process. ETIM North America is designed to be open, collaborative and to embrace all manufacturers and distributors. Industry standards are designed through a collective process.
To learn more about ETIM North America, its Product Expert Groups, and how manufacturers, distributors and service companies can participate, visit www.etim-na.org or contact Mary Shaw at [email protected].