BMEcat

In brief: BMEcat is an XML standard for exchanging electronic product catalogues between suppliers and buyers. It was initiated by the German Association for Supply Chain Management, Procurement and Logistics (BME) and is widely used in B2B trade in German-speaking markets.

What a BMEcat catalogue contains

• Item master data such as item numbers, descriptions and ordering information
• Prices and price tiers
• Attributes, often classified according to ETIM or ECLASS
• References to images, data sheets and other documents
• Relationships such as accessories and spare parts

Why BMEcat matters

Wholesalers, e-procurement systems and industry portals often require product data in BMEcat format. Without PIM, creating these catalogues from Excel is often a laborious process. With PIM, they are generated automatically, tailored to each recipient’s format variants and mandatory fields.

Example

A sanitary products manufacturer supplies its wholesalers with a monthly BMEcat catalogue containing ETIM attributes. Before export, the PIM system checks that all mandatory attributes have been populated.

See also

• ETIM
• ECLASS
• Syndication / Product Data Syndication
• Data suppliers