ETIM North America Adds IDEA to Board

ETIM North America recently announced that IDEA’s President, Patrick Knight, has joined its Board of Directors.

IDEA’s increased involvement, and visibility, will synthesize product data standards across the industry and facilitate global coordination for electrical product data.

ETIM North America / IDEA Press Release

ETIM North America is pleased to announce the appointment of Patrick Knight, President and CEO of the Industry Data Exchange Association (IDEA), to its Board of Directors.

As one of the over 20 regional non-profit ETIM organizations worldwide, ETIM North America is charged with supporting the implementation and adoption of the ETIM Technical Information Model in the North American wholesale electrical industry, and associated verticals (HVAC/Plumbing and Building Materials).

Knight brings with him 15 years of professional expertise in strategic planning, business process improvement and business development. His cross-industry experience and global exposure have made him an out-of-the-box thinker who gets excited by solving problems and embracing challenges head on.

“And what better a challenge to tackle than helping our organization bring a tried-and-true global data classification standard like ETIM to the North American market,” states Mary Shaw, Executive Director of ETIM North America.

She continues, “That’s why we’re excited to have leaders like Patrick involved—those who not only understand the value of standardized data but are deeply committed to making it a reality. Patrick recognizes the importance of supporting our multi-vertical product data standard and is committed to advancing our efforts to address one of the industry’s biggest challenges: the lack of standardized and digitized product descriptors.”

Matt Christensen, Chairman of ETIM North America, adds: “With his connection to IDEA’s customer base and the member organizations of IDEA’s Shareholders, NAED and NEMA, Patrick is uniquely positioned to help advance our mission of accelerating adoption of the ETIM classification model throughout our regions. He will play a key role, along with our other board members, in guiding our strategy, supporting member engagement, and advancing our efforts to deliver much-needed digitalization and operational efficiency to our channel.”

“I’m honored to join the ETIM North America Board of Directors and excited to collaborate with this exceptional team to drive digital transformation in our industry,” said Patrick Knight, IDEA President and CEO. “By integrating the ETIM classification standard into our HDM-based IDEA Connector℠ and supporting translation efforts, we aim to bring greater efficiency to all industry stakeholders.”

Please help us welcome Patrick Knight to the ETIM North America Board of Directors.”

Patrick joins Jon Duffie, Director of Channel Management for Siemens, who was also recently appointed to the Board.

The appointment of IDEA to the Board is important as it highlights the importance of product data standards and that the industry is embracing ETIM’s global product standards (which ETIM NA refines for the US and North American markets). With IDEA representing NAED and NEMA, this reinforces that the ETIM standards will play a major role in the electrical industry and support the digitalization of the industry. Jon’s involvement highlights Siemens’ commitment to ETIM as well as he will bring a manufacturer perspective.

ETIM North America was founded in February 2020. To listen to an update, check out Electrical Wholesaling’s recent interview with Mary Shaw. Jim Lucy had an informative 30-minute discussion with Mary in this EW podcast.