An Intro to ETIM North America at eBiz

If you’re not familiar with ETIM North America and are a manufacturer or a distributor who recognizes that eCommerce, and eBusiness, is part of your future, you need to attend this session at next week’s eBiz.  The session is titled “More Precise Product Classification for Today’s Digital World.”

In the words of an executive of one of the marketing groups, “this is the future of product classification to support our industry.”

A number of leading manufacturers and distributors including McNaughton-McKay, Sonepar, ABB, Schneider, Siemens and Appleton (and more, including Electro-Federation to highlight the North American focus) have already joined the non-profit association that is supported by Distributor Data Solutions and IDEA. These two organizations are spearheading a North American standard that will support, and co-exist, an international standard that is already in 20+ countries. A tried and true model that is language independent and extremely supportive for an “e” environment.

Further, as the graphic below highlights, ETIM’s vision, and opportunity, is that the classification model facilitates communication from manufacturer through distributor to end-users (contractors and industrials) and supports the engineering and design communities. This is why manufacturers and other technology companies are encouraged to join. Distributors add their voice as they are the “voice of the customer” so that attributes are in customer terminology, not manufacturer vernacular.

During this session, Mary Shaw, Executive Director of ETIM North America, will discuss:

• What part ETIM plays in the digital world
• How the association is structured
• How product classifications are developed in a committee approach
• and information is exchanged
• Industry-wide benefits of using ETIM

Working committees are already classifying product as there is a Power Distribution (Distribution Equipment / Switchgear) committee and an Industrial Automation committee. Both encompass many sub-product categories.

Another committee will be launching shortly leveraging the product expertise of some existing members and creating opportunities for involvement for more. The pace of adoption is directly related to membership interests.

Committees are comprised of individuals with product knowledge joining together to improve our industry. Every company receives one vote, hence democratizing the process

This session is targeted to sales, marketing, and product leaders. Technical / IT / eCommerce people can benefit from understanding the “how”, but businesspeople need to attend to understand the “why” and potential.

ETIM has significant longer-term potential for those committed to the industry, eCommerce and especially supporting larger end-users / contractors.

Click here to register today.  The session is Wednesday, September 23^rd at 1:00 EST.

And, as an FYI and for full disclosure, Channel Marketing Group believes this model can support our industry and we’re on the Board of Directors.

Join Mary on the 23rd or reaching out to her to learn more. There are opportunities for distributors, manufacturers, reps, associations, marketing groups and technology companies to participate.