"Our partnership with MediaLab and their ETIM-Mapper platform has been pivotal for Branchekataloget in achieving our business objectives. It has empowered us to establish a reliable, high-quality data management system that serves both suppliers and wholesalers seamlessly. MediaLab’s technical expertise and responsive support have been invaluable throughout this project, providing tailored solutions, insightful technical consultations, and an unwavering commitment to quality."
Rune Rugbjerg LundsgaardProject manager & business developer at Branchekataloget
Industry Catalog: Structured Product Data for All Danish HVAC Products
Branchekataloget is a collaborative initiative by Danish plumbing wholesalers aimed at enhancing and simplifying data flow between suppliers, wholesalers, and other data users within the HVAC sector. At the core of this collaboration is a centralized digital infrastructure that ensures high-quality, structured product data management, serving as a vital hub for the HVAC market in Denmark. This platform allows suppliers to register products and assign industry-standard numbers (VVS Numbers) while enabling wholesalers and data users to access up-to-date, organized data directly from this central source.
Business Challenges
Branchekataloget’s main objective is to source the highest quality product data from suppliers to make it accessible for data recipients. Selecting suitable software that could integrate centralized product data management, editing access for suppliers, and varied access levels for wholesalers and data users was a critical challenge.
The selected Product Information Management (PIM) system needed to support industry standards such as ETIM and xChange (previously BMEcat) while ensuring high performance, stability, and availability across over half a million products. Furthermore, flexibility in adapting to evolving product data requirements, such as environmental data, was essential. Branchekataloget also required customizable features specific to its platform, including daily data backups, PowerBI data analysis compatibility, and flexible Excel exports.
The Solution
Branchekataloget chose Medialab’s ETIM-Mapper software for its robust PIM capabilities and support for ETIM and xChange/BMEcat standards. This web-based application provides extensive product information management, multilingual support, and seamless integration through API, making it ideal for Branchekataloget’s needs. The ETIM-Mapper allows data import/export in xChange/BMEcat and Excel formats, making it compatible with existing systems and easy for users to access.
Implementation Process
Following a demonstration and trial period, Branchekataloget decided to use ETIM-Mapper as the foundation for managing its product data. Initially integrated with Branchekataloget’s existing PIM, ETIM-Mapper later evolved to become the primary system for product data management.
Key stages in the implementation included:
A major milestone was the transition to ETIM-Mapper as the sole platform for Branchekataloget, eliminating the need for the legacy PIM and significantly improving stability and functionality.
Results
Today, Branchekataloget serves 290 active suppliers, with 150 contributing their product data directly through the system. Approximately 130,000 product data fields are updated daily, with around 60 new products added each day. Over 200 end-users access this up-to-date data, benefiting from the accuracy and accessibility provided by Branchekataloget’s centralized platform.
Future Development
The collaboration between Branchekataloget and Medialab opens doors for continuous innovation. Future plans include enhancing data tracking for individual product attributes and implementing a communications system between data providers and recipients to maintain data quality.
For more information, visit branchekataloget.com or contact us directly.
"Working with Medialab, Daniella has strengthened its position as a leader in the Hungarian electrical market, offering customers the assurance of accurate, high-quality product information supported by ETIM-Mapper - an innovative, reliable PIM platform. Daniella has been using ETIM-Mapper since 2018, scaling the system from managing 100,000 to 800,000 products with robust API integration and multilingual ETIM classification support."
David MaleskovitsChief Technology Officer at Daniella
Overview of Daniella
Daniella, a leading family-owned company in Hungary’s electrical retail and wholesale sectors, has grown steadily with more than 400 employees and 45 locations. Known for its broad market reach and efficient service, Daniella operates both retail and wholesale online stores, aiming to build lasting partnerships based on quality and reliability.
As part of FEGIME, a network connecting family-owned electrical businesses across Europe, Daniella plays a central role in fostering collaboration and exchange within the Hungarian market. The company was also instrumental in founding FEGIME Hungary Ltd., linking local family-owned businesses to an elite network of European partners.
Challenges in Product Information Management
To effectively manage its extensive product range, Daniella relies on a comprehensive product database, containing structured data like technical specifications, pricing, and stock information. Maintaining this database is crucial for ensuring smooth order processing, accurate inventory management, and strong supplier coordination. Daniella sought a PIM solution that could support high data accuracy, improve customer service, and integrate with evolving industry standards.
Selecting ETIM-Mapper
Daniella began working with Medialab in 2018, testing their ETIM-Mapper platform. After a successful pilot, Daniella adopted ETIM-Mapper as its main PIM system, managing an initial 100,000 products with API integration and Hungarian ETIM classification support. By 2019, the system was scaled to handle 500,000 products, meeting the company’s growing demands.
In 2020, Daniella and Medialab expanded the system’s structure by implementing a central master account for 800,000 products, along with sub-accounts for additional branches, each managing 150,000 products. This setup enabled streamlined data synchronization across branches, allowing for precise, hierarchical control over product information. In subsequent years, Daniella continued refining the account structure, adding features such as a Romanian-language account and further optimizing the master-slave configuration.
Key Benefits and Outcomes
Through ETIM-Mapper, Daniella gained a PIM solution tailored to its specific needs, backed by Medialab’s responsive and adaptable support. The Medialab team’s flexibility in modifying the system and developing useful new features has made product data management smoother and more efficient for Daniella’s teams.
ETIM-Mapper offers a stable, secure platform with regular backups and compatibility with industry standards like ETIM, BMEcat, and xChange. Automatic product migration features help Daniella transition seamlessly between new ETIM versions, while flexible account configuration allows the system to adapt to the company’s growing needs.
Medialab’s support in implementing both Hungarian and Romanian language versions of the ETIM classification has also been an asset, enhancing accessibility and usability for Daniella’s teams. Additionally, Medialab’s proactive approach to API updates, with advance notifications and backward compatibility, provides Daniella with ample time to adapt, minimizing operational disruptions.
A Shared Commitment to Long-Term Success
Through our cooperation and partnership, we’ve come to appreciate that Medialab shares the same core values as Daniella: business integrity, transparency, customer focus, innovation, and continuous improvement. Together, we place customer satisfaction at the center of our efforts, contributing to a shared vision of long-term success.
"Medialab is a trusted partner in the implementation of the ETIM standard in Poland, contributing with its expertise to ETIM Poland’s operations and empowering Polish companies with cutting-edge product data solutions. I highly recommend Medialab as a reliable and experienced partner in product data management, widely respected in the market."
Tomasz BorucPresident of ETIM Poland, Managing Director of ZHI
Since the beginning of ETIM Poland’s operations, Medialab has been our trusted partner in implementing and adapting the ETIM standard in the Polish market. Medialab first took on the task of translating the ETIM classification into Polish, and its dedicated ETIM-Translator software enabled a smooth verification process in collaboration with industry representatives. With their support for each new ETIM version, we can ensure the highest quality translations and compliance with the standard.
Medialab is also the creator of ETIM-Mapper – a solution that significantly improves product information management for many Polish companies. ETIM-Mapper allows for product classification according to ETIM, BMEcat, and xChange standards, streamlining data exchange between manufacturers, distributors, and clients. The integration capabilities and flexibility of ETIM-Mapper make it an ideal solution for manufacturers, distributors, and specialized product databases alike, such as the ZHI repository, which serves installation wholesalers.
Medialab consistently supports the ETIM community members in Poland, offering both ETIM-Mapper and professional consulting in ETIM/BMEcat/xChange standards. The knowledge and experience of Medialab’s team are unmatched in the Polish market, making the company truly worthy of recommendation. Their reliability, dedication, and expert understanding of standards make Medialab an invaluable partner in product information management.
"Using the ETIM-Mapper application has been an immense help for us at BAKS in managing product information and seamless data sharing with business partners. With Medialab’s expert support, BAKS has overcome classification challenges, delivering valuable, well-organized product data to customers efficiently and effectively."
Wanda NowalskaMarketing and Advertising Specialist at BAKS
For over a decade, we at BAKS have relied on the ETIM-Mapper application, which has proven to be an indispensable tool, greatly simplifying our product information management. This solution allows us to fully align our products with international standards such as ETIM, BMEcat, and xChange, which is essential for maintaining a high level of service and meeting the expectations of our partners. Generating product files in various formats, including BMEcat, Excel, and PDF, is quick and seamless, making it easy to share data with our business partners.
Classifying and adapting product descriptions to meet standards is a significant challenge, but we have always been able to count on the professional support from the Medialab team. They consistently provide expert assistance, both with the application’s functionality and in addressing classification standard requirements. Thanks to ETIM-Mapper, we have not only streamlined product information management but also gained solid support in delivering valuable, organized data to our customers.
"We have been using the ETIM-Mapper system for 10 years, simplifying our processes and aligning product data with international standards like ETIM and BMEcat. Using the ETIM-Mapper has been a tremendous help for us at F&F in managing product information."
Mariusz MakowskiSales and Marketing Specialist at F&F
For 10 years now, we have been relying on the ETIM-Mapper product information management system, which has significantly simplified our product data management processes and has helped us to align the product description with international standards such as ETIM, BMEcat, and xChange — meeting the expectations of our partners effectively and making data exchange with our business partners quick and effortless.
Throughout our long-standing cooperation with Medialab, we have always been able to count on their professional support and expert assistance and gained solid support in providing our customers with valuable, well-organized data. Cooperation with Medialab has been instrumental in ensuring the quality and consistency of our product information.