The electrical industry’s data standards body and product content provider Industry Data Exchange Association (IDEA) joined ETIM North America to assist in refining the ETIM Technical Information Model in the North American wholesale electrical industry.

The ETIM model supports the transfer of product information for transactions and eCommerce, and serves as a foundation for enhancing AI capabilities within companies.

“The goal of ETIM is to simplify product classifications so that products can be translated across languages, technical barriers and digital platforms without ambiguity,” ETIM North American Executive Director Mary Shaw said in a Sept. 30 news release.

“The goal of ETIM is to simplify product classifications so that products can be translated across languages, technical barriers and digital platforms without ambiguity.” —Mary Shaw

IDEA — founded by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) to serve as a single source of data for the electrical industry — will integrate the ETIM classification model into its Harmonized Data Model (HDM)-based data syndication platform called IDEA Connector.

IDEA Connector allows manufacturers to store and distribute their product information to distributors and other customers.

“Our team of subject matter experts from across the electrical industry provide valuable product expertise to our HDM initiative and, drawing on their insights, IDEA is pleased to support ETIM NA in its language and terminology translation efforts,” IDEA President and CEO David Oldfather.