--- title: "What Is ETIM?" url: https://www.uncap.com/glossary/etim author: "Denis Dyli" published: 2026-10-28 updated: 2026-10-28 summary: "ETIM is an open, international classification standard for technical products, such as electrical, HVAC and plumbing products. It sorts products into product classes and describes each class with standardized features, values and units, so manufacturers, wholesalers and their customers can exchange the same technical product data in a uniform, language-independent way." --- # What Is ETIM? > ETIM is an open, international classification standard for technical products, such as electrical, HVAC and plumbing products. It sorts products into product classes and describes each class with standardized features, values and units, so manufacturers, wholesalers and their customers can exchange the same technical product data in a uniform, language-independent way. **ETIM**: ETIM is an open, international classification standard for technical products, such as electrical, HVAC and plumbing products. It sorts products into product classes and describes each class with standardized features, values and units, so manufacturers, wholesalers and their customers can exchange the same technical product data in a uniform, language-independent way. ## How it works ETIM gives every kind of technical product a class, and every class a fixed set of features. A manufacturer describes its product by filling in that class's features with the values and units ETIM defines. Because a class bundles products of different manufacturers or suppliers, a wholesaler receives comparable data for similar products, whoever made them. ETIM International, a non-profit organization, centrally manages the development, maintenance, publishing and promotion of the ETIM classification model. National and regional ETIM organizations support their members and translate the model; ETIM North America supports adoption in the North American wholesale electrical industry and associated verticals. The standard began in 1991, when the Dutch electrical installers association initiated the ETIM project. ETIM was initially developed for the Dutch electrotechnical sector, and it now also covers HVAC and plumbing, building materials and shipbuilding products, including tools. ETIM International says the model is available in 17 languages and is free to use for everyone. ## What the model contains ETIM International lists the entities of the classification model: - Product groups and product classes. ETIM is a two-level model, and each product class is assigned to one single product group. The real focus is the definition of product classes and their features. - Features. Each feature has a description, a feature type, and a unit or value. The four feature types are alphanumeric (a list of possible values), logic (yes or no), numeric (one numeric value) and range (two numeric values that limit a range). - Values. Each alphanumeric feature of a class has a fixed, alphabetical list of possible values. - Units. Numeric and range features always need a unit of measurement, except features like "number of". - Synonyms. Also called keywords, synonyms are alternative names for a product class. All classes, features, values and units have a unique identifier that is language-independent, while their descriptions are language-dependent. For exchanging the data, ETIM International has released ETIM xChange, a JSON-based product master data exchange format; it previously recommended the BMEcat standard. Compared with UNSPSC, a four-level taxonomy for classifying products and services from segment to commodity, ETIM is a two-level model of product groups and product classes, and its real focus is the definition of product classes and their features. ## Example A wholesaler stocks 400 LED lamps from 6 manufacturers. Without a shared model, it receives 6 spreadsheets that name the same property 6 different ways, and someone maps each column by hand before the lamps can be filtered online. If all 6 suppliers classify their lamps in the same ETIM class, every lamp arrives with the same features, each numeric value carries its unit, and each list feature uses the same values. The wholesaler maps the class once, then builds one filter per feature for all 400 lamps. ## On Shopify Shopify has its own product classification. A product category is the standard category of a product from Shopify's Standard Product Taxonomy, and Shopify asks you to use only a predefined Shopify product category listed in that taxonomy. Category metafields are product attributes that map to a specific product category. For data outside those standard fields, metafields allow you to extend an existing platform data model, such as products, customers, and orders, with your own custom data. An ETIM class code and its feature values can be stored alongside the Shopify category in metafields, filled by a product information management (PIM) system, an ERP integration or a product import. ## How Uncap helps Uncap's [electronic components page](/industry/electronic-components) describes the same discipline for spec-first catalogs: technical attributes, datasheets, lifecycle status, and RoHS and REACH data normalized in a product information management system so every part carries the same fields in the same shape, with faceted search tuned for technical attributes rather than for keywords. ## Related terms - UNSPSC - Product information management (PIM) - GTIN - Master data management - Item master ## Sources - ETIM International: Model information - ETIM North America: About us - Shopify Help Center: Shopify's Standard Product Taxonomy ## Frequently asked questions ### What is ETIM? ETIM is the international classification standard for technical products. It classifies products into product groups and classes and describes each class with standardized features, values and units, so suppliers and wholesalers can exchange uniform product data. ### How does ETIM work? Each kind of technical product has an ETIM class with a fixed set of features. Manufacturers fill in those features with the values and units ETIM defines, and the data is exchanged in a standard format such as ETIM xChange, so every product in a class can be compared on the same features. ### What does "etim" mean in English? In product data, ETIM is a name, not a word to translate. ETIM North America expands it as the ETIM Technical Information Model, the classification standard that began in 1991 as a project of the Dutch electrical installers association.