Basic principle: Mapping

You maintain your product data in your own systems, the technical data e.g. in a PIM system, the price, logistics and customer data usually in your ERP system. And that should not change.

Because the basic principle of the ecatDesigner is: Your existing product data is transferred from your existing systems and then assigned to the fields of the target formats and the classes and characteristics of the classifications by means of a catchy user interface (by drag ’n drop). Internally, you continue to organize your data as you need it, the external data representation is derived from it by mappings. This means for you:

• No duplicate data storage
• Definition of mappings for the control of discharges

Formats and classifications

The ecatDesigner already contains a variety of catalog formats and classifications. Examples are BMEcat, GS1xml, Datanorm and Excel formats. The classification systems used for the technical description of the products are also important. Again, all common standards are supported, such as eCl@ss, ETIM or Proficl@ss.

Configuration of an electronic catalog from different mappings

When configuring an electronic catalog, it is specified that:

• In which catalog format is the catalog written (for example, BMEcat or as an Excel file)?
• Which data source does the data for the catalog (such as PIM data and SAP data)provide?
• What classifications are issued (e.g. eCl@ss and ETIM)?

You can use the configuration to create different catalogs using the same data and mappings. Some examples:
Very often, the data comes from two sources: SAP and PIM. The SAP data is typically mapped to the BMEcat fields, the PIM data, e.g. to eCl@ss. This results in an electronic catalog that contains customer-specific prices from the SAP and the product descriptions from the PIM, organized according to eCl@ss.

Or you can use the eCl@ss mapping mentioned above in combination with a mapping of the standard prices of the PIM system to BMEcat as well as a further mapping of the PIM data to ETIM. The result is an electronic catalog that contains standard prices and represents the products according to ETIM and eCl@ss.

Once created, mappings can be used for different catalogs. They thus form a valuable resource that can be used repeatedly.

Process support

In the past, a printed catalogue was created every two years, with the introduction of electronic catalogues, one or two catalogues were produced every year, today many marketplaces and shops expect a daily update of the data. This can only be achieved by automating catalog creation. Therefore, the ecatDesigner includes mechanisms for automatically performing catalog creation, from a time-driven or event-driven import of new data to the automatic delivery of the catalog to the recipient.

Check the data quality

BMEcat is not equal to BMEcat, different data imports have different requirements for the delivered catalogs. This means: Depending on the data receiver, different field lengths may be required, different fields are called must or can fields, etc.

The ecatDesigner checks the result, knows which special requirements need to be met and gives you a detailed report on all irregularities found. This report helps you identify mapping errors, but most importantly, determine where the quality of the data sources needs to be improved in order to deliver the required data. At the same time, notifications can be activated by email, so that you are always up to date with automatic generation processes.