Insights
ETIM 11 Is Coming: Is Your Product Data Ready For The Next Version?
Quick access:
- What Is ETIM And What Changes With ETIM 11?
- What Does The ETIM 11 Release Mean For Your Organization?
- What Is The Impact On Manufacturers And Wholesalers?
- Prepare Your Product Data For ETIM 11 In 5 Steps.
- Frequently Asked Questions.
ETIM International confirms the planned release date for ETIM 11 in its official release schedule: 1 December 2026. The impact of this new version depends on your product range, the configuration of your systems and your agreements with partners further along the supply chain. For example, an organization that processes changes continuously starts from a different position than one whose product data is still based on ETIM 8.
With good preparation, you can identify where changes are needed within your organization. This allows you to plan the migration to ETIM 11 while addressing existing issues in product data quality and management.
Video summary:
What Is ETIM & What Changes With ETIM 11?
ETIM is an international classification standard for technical products. It provides a structured way to record a product’s technical characteristics. The model defines product classes and their associated features, values and units. This allows different organizations to record and compare the same types of products consistently.
Such a standard helps when a manufacturer supplies technical product information to multiple wholesalers. An agreed data structure makes it clear which information belongs to a product and how that information should be interpreted.
New releases incorporate changes to ETIM’s classification model. These may include new or revised product classes, additional features, and changes to permitted values. In the Netherlands, Squadra partner Ketenstandaard Bouw en Techniek is the official organization responsible for managing, developing and implementing the ETIM standard, including new releases and changes.
The practical question surrounding the ETIM 11 release is which changes affect your product range. A new release does not automatically mean that every product needs to be reclassified. However, you do need to investigate whether existing classifications and features still fit the new version. Assess the differences at the level of the product classes your organization actually uses.
Download: Is Your Product Data Ready?
Download the free handout with the key considerations and preparation steps for ETIM 11. Be sure to share it with colleagues and stakeholders!
What Does The ETIM 11 Release Mean For Your Organization?
The planned publication of ETIM 11 is an important milestone in the development of this data standard. However, the release date itself is not a general statutory deadline by which all organizations must have migrated.
Practical agreements are particularly relevant to your planning. Which version do your customers use? Which version is used in your PIM system? What data does a data pool expect?
As a manufacturer, you may already be preparing while an important customer is still working with an earlier version. In that situation, you need to establish which output remains necessary for the time being and how to prevent different files from becoming inconsistent.
Document these 3 things:
- The version in which your product data is managed internally.
- The version and format in which you receive data.
- The version and format in which you supply data to each recipient.
This assessment reveals where migration, additional checks or temporary arrangements are needed.
Why Do Older ETIM Versions Deserve Attention?
Ketenstandaard states that ETIM 8.0 is no longer actively supported since the introduction of ETIM 10.0. For ETIM 7.0, the end of active support was announced at the transition to ETIM 9.0. If you work with ETIM 8 or earlier, updating your classification therefore deserves particular attention now.
This does not mean that existing product data suddenly disappears or is rejected everywhere. It does mean that you should carefully assess how your current classification compares with the latest standard and the requirements of your supply chain partners.
If you are several versions behind, you may need to assess multiple successive changes. An older integration may still work technically, while its content no longer meets the needs of a customer or another recipient. The way you manage versions also makes a difference. With a static release, you work with a fixed model version. Dynamic version management follows newer class definitions and revisions.
Access to current definitions is only one part of the process. You also need to decide how changes are assessed, how product data is updated and how the revised data is tested.
What Is The Impact On Manufacturers And Wholesalers?
Manufacturers: The Quality Of The Source Data.
As a manufacturer, you hold the technical knowledge about your products. When a classification changes, you need to assess whether that knowledge is available in a sufficiently structured form to continue serving customers and other recipients effectively.
Are the product specifications up to date? Do variants have the correct individual values? And does everyone use the same source when a feature is updated?
Without clear agreements, sales, product management and data management may each maintain their own files. This increases the risk of differences between documentation, PIM data and supplied catalogues.
This calls for clear data governance : agreements about who is responsible for which product data, who processes changes and who approves publication. Record corrections in the source and the management process so that they are also included in subsequent deliveries.
Wholesalers: Managing Different Supplier Data.
As a wholesaler, you receive information from different manufacturers. These suppliers may use different ETIM versions, field names and levels of completeness.
This requires checks when data arrives. Which classification has been supplied? Which information can be adopted? And which questions need to go back to the manufacturer?
Incorrect or missing features can affect search filters, product comparisons and data exchange. For example, a product may become harder to find when a relevant filter value is missing.
Also retain the source of the data. Information added by a wholesaler and a specification confirmed by a manufacturer require different management arrangements.
Prepare Your Product Data For ETIM 11 In 5 Steps.
1. Assess Your Current Situation.
Identify the ETIM versions in use, relevant systems, supplier files and outbound integrations. Include spreadsheets and manual intermediate steps.
Then identify which product groups are important for revenue, your product range or data exchange. This allows you to prioritize effectively.
2. Investigate The Relevant Changes.
Compare the current classification with your intended target configuration. Use the official model information and available change information from ETIM International and Ketenstandaard.
For each relevant class, assess what can remain unchanged, what requires checking and where additional information is needed. Also record which conclusions still need to be checked against the final release.
3. Check The Available Product Information.
Investigate whether your features have been recorded completely, consistently and traceably. Consider values, units and product variants.
Distinguish between information that is missing and information that already exists but still needs to be extracted from documentation. This difference determines who you need to involve and how much preparation is required.
4. Coordinate With Software Providers And Supply Chain Partners.
Ask which versions and export formats are supported and when joint testing is possible. Also discuss how any exceptions will be handled.
Document decisions. A general confirmation that a system “supports ETIM” does not provide enough information about your chosen version, configuration and data flow.
5. Test And Establish Ongoing Management.
Start with a representative selection of products. Alongside complete records, include products with missing features, variants and challenging mappings.
Test the entire process, including processing by the receiving system. Then document how new products and future model changes will be assessed. This makes the improvement part of day-to-day operations.
Reduce Manual Classification Work With AI.
Are you a manufacturer or technical wholesaler looking to spend less time on product classification and standardization? Discover PowerClass.ai.
This module within our PowerSuite.ai solution uses AI to automatically classify and standardize products and map features to data standards such as ETIM and GS1. This reduces manual work and helps limit data entry and classification errors.
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What Risks Does An ETIM Migration Involve?
A migration requires checks on meaning, completeness and processing. Simply changing a version number does not provide sufficient assurance.
Investigate at least the following situations:
- A product class has changed: check whether the existing classification is still appropriate.
- A feature has been added or revised: assess whether the necessary source information is available.
- A permitted value has changed: investigate whether existing values can be transferred.
- A mapping relies on an old assumption: have experts check whether that assumption is still valid.
- A receiving system expects something different: test how the system actually processes the data.
Example: a technical characteristic is included in a product description but has not yet been recorded as a separate feature in your PIM system. When a recipient needs that characteristic in a structured format, you first need to establish the correct source and meaning.
Missing information must remain identifiable as missing. A plausible value without reliable supporting evidence can create further errors along the supply chain.
Frequently Asked Questions.
Yes. AI can help manufacturers and wholesalers classify products and map product features to data standards such as ETIM and GS1. This reduces manual work and helps limit errors. PowerClass from PowerSuite.ai supports this approach, with options for review and structured export. Source data quality and expert review remain important. Confirm in advance which ETIM version is supported.
Ready For The Next Step? Get In Touch!
ETIM 11 provides an ideal opportunity to assess how well your product data aligns with the rest of the supply chain. Squadra is a partner of Ketenstandaard and helps organizations address challenges in product data, PIM and data management.
Let’s Talk.
