Simon Barkes has been elected as the fourth President of ETIM International and, following a formal handover in November 2020, will lead the organization for the next three years. A long-time champion of digitalization for the UK’s electrotechnical sector it was in 2017, during the second of his two EDA Presidencies, that Simon led the introduction of the ETIM global data standard to this country.
ETIM is the international data model for the standardization and classification of technical product data and is managed by ETIM International from its Belgium HQ. As ETIM International President Simon succeeds Jan Janse, formerly of Sonepar, to lead an Executive Board of five representatives drawn from ETIM Member countries: North America, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and Germany. There are currently 22 country members of ETIM International, including the UK.
Simon, MD at EDA Member BEMCO (British Electrical and Manufacturing Company), said:
“It is an honour to be part of the team leading the strategic direction of ETIM. Since the EDA launched its digitalization drive in 2017 the UK has made huge progress: the standard has been Anglicized for our market; the EDA has established a data team led by Margaret Fitzsimons, EDA CEO and Richard Appleton, General Manger at EDA Data Services; we’ve launched the EDATA data pool which contains ETIM-ready data; and the BMF has seen the benefit of ETIM for their members and has come on board as champion for the HVAC & Plumbing and Building Materials sectors. The pandemic has shown how much we all depend upon ecommerce in our business and personal lives. Access to high quality product data is key to the wholesalers’ online sales success and the pressure is on to keep pace with customers who want the knowledge that trade counter teams have but backed by the convenience of ecommerce.”
Further information can be found at www.etim-uk.co.uk and on LinkedIn under ETIM UK.
About ETIM UK
ETIM UK Ltd is the independent not-for-profit National Organization set up to oversee the management and promotion of the data model. The sector leads for ETIM in the UK are the EDA for electro-technical products, and the BMF for HVAC & Plumbing and Building Materials.
About ETIM
ETIM is the international data model for the standardization and classification of technical product data.
ETIM, previously known as the European Technical Information Model but now shortened to ETIM because of its global reach, is a system for classifying technical products that started with the classification of electrotechnical products and, due to its effectiveness, has also been adopted by a range of industries including HVAC & Sanitary and Building Materials.
The ETIM classification lists the most important technical characteristics for any product. It is multi-lingual (translations for international markets are automatic), supplier neutral and, once embedded in a Product Information Management (PIM) system, can be served up in print and online.
ETIM started in the Netherlands in the 1990s, where installers had difficulty finding information to compare the performance of electrotechnical products. The model they devised as a solution to their search was soon recognized by wholesalers as having further value by simplifying the transfer of data in the supply chain and transcending geographical borders and markets.