Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
The NMBS has declared its support for ETIM as the most appropriate data model for the standardisation and classification of technical product data for its members.
The ETIM model, which simplifies the transfer of information between manufacturer and merchant, was first introduced to the UK’s electro-technical sector by the EDA, now the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) is to begin work on its expansion into two further sectors, Building Materials and HVAC & Sanitary.
Chris Hayward, MD of NMBS said: “As a buying society we strive to develop and strengthen independent merchants by innovating and adding value at every opportunity. Clearly ETIM has an important role to play in this regard and we will support the BMF as they work with the industry to roll out this data-model in the building materials and HVAC sectors.”
ETIM not only ensures that all users of the product data employ the same terms to describe the same attributes and values, but it also streamlines the transfer of information, removes inefficiency in the supply chain and facilitates the transition to online trading. More and more trade customers have grown up with the internet and there is a growing demand to order building products and manage trade accounts online
John Newcomb, BMF CEO said: “I am delighted that NMBS has announced their support for an initiative that will help independent merchants address the challenge of digitalisation. A major barrier to digitalisation in our sector is the need to obtain and manage standardised e-commerce friendly product data. ETIM provides that standard and its introduction will be a priority for the BMF in 2020.”
