Eclass

eCl@ss is a product classification and description standard for information exchange between customers and their suppliers.

eCl@ss is a de facto standard within the German energy industry, but competes with UNSPSC in the United States. In 2006 eCl@ss joined forces with ETIM, which is an important standard in the wholesale electrical industry. Mid February 2011 release 7.0 of eCl@ss was published introducing substantial increase of content and being harmonized with the industry standards ETIM and Prolist (process control and chemical industry).[1]

eCl@ss is characterised by a 4-level hierarchical classification system. Each level adds a 2-token prefix to the eCl@ss-code, together forming an 8 character numeric code. In addition to the classification, eCl@ss provides for each class in the classification hierarchy a so-called application class, which is characterized by certain defined properties, which can be used to describe the classified item. The eCl@ss data model is based on ISO 13584-42.

eCl@ss content is aimed to be available in multiple languages, with English and German being the most complete versions:

  • Chinese
  • Czech
  • Dutch
  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Portuguese
  • Russian
  • Spanish
  • Taiwanese
  • Thai
  • Turkish

Industrial products and services categorization standards

References

External links