The service desk is the distribution channel.
Data sheets, manuals and certificates leave by email, one request at a time. Nobody knows which version a wholesaler has.
Use case · Illustrative scenario
01 · BUILDING TECHNOLOGY
A portal, ETIM and translation — next to the PIM you already run.
A mid-size manufacturer of measurement and control technology for heating, sanitary and building services keeps Viamedici EPIM and SAP — and puts PIM Gate in front of them for installers, wholesale, translators and, later, the shop.
“Every Monday the service desk emails the same data sheets to installers — and every quarter a wholesaler asks for a new BMEcat.”
02 · Today
A solid PIM — and a service desk acting as its API.
The company develops and produces measurement, control and safety technology for heating, sanitary and building services: gauges and thermometers, sensors and controllers, monitoring devices, connection fittings and accessories. Around 20,000 sellable articles, most of them variants — connection sizes, measuring ranges, housing and cable options.
Product master data, classification, marketing texts and media references live in Viamedici EPIM. Material numbers, GTINs, price groups and availability flags live in SAP. Sales runs three-tier: manufacturer → technical wholesale → installer, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, plus export through distribution partners.
Installers, planners and wholesalers need data sheets, installation manuals, certificates and images — daily. Today they get them from the service desk, by email. Wholesalers want ETIM-classified BMEcat files for their own systems. An external translation partner translates German source texts into de-CH and en-GB and keeps the translation memory in its own CAT tool.
| System landscape · today | role | stays |
|---|---|---|
| Viamedici EPIM | Product master, texts, classification, media references | Stays · source of truth |
| SAP | Material, GTIN, price group, availability flag | Stays |
| File share / DAM | Images, drawings, PDFs | Stays |
| Translation partner · CAT tool | Translation memory, termbase | Stays · external |
| Email / FTP | Distribution to installers and wholesale | Replaced by the gate |
03 · Challenges
Six demands, one product data team.
Wholesale wants ETIM and BMEcat.
Technical wholesalers reject files with missing ETIM classes or features. EPIM holds many values as free text, so every delivery turns into a manual mapping exercise.
de-CH is not de-DE.
Swiss German needs its own locale: no ß, Swiss terms, Swiss units of trade. Today it is a copy of de-DE with manual edits — and drifts.
Translators won't switch systems.
The partner's translation memory lives in their CAT tool. Full Excel exports mean re-sending thousands of unchanged variant texts every cycle.
The Digital Product Passport is coming.
Materials, conformity, repair and disposal data are spread across EPIM, SAP and PDF declarations. There is no single record to build a passport from.
No safe place to try things.
Any change to rules, mappings or exports hits all channels at once. IT wants a test environment before anything goes live.
04 · The setup
EPIM and SAP stay. The gate goes in front.
PIM Gate reads from EPIM and SAP on a schedule and never writes back unless configured. Everything that leaves the company — portal pages, wholesale files, website data, translation packages and, later, passports and shop data — passes the same gate: validated, translated, entitled and logged.
Diagram. Sources Viamedici EPIM, SAP, assets and translation memory feed PIM Gate. PIM Gate validates, translates, entitles and audits, then serves a customer portal, wholesale BMEcat feeds, the website API and translation packages; a Digital Product Passport and a shop are later phases.
Solid · phase 1–2 · Dashed · later phase · Badge · current status
ETIM: mapped once, checked on every export
Translation: only what changed, in the partner's own tool
05 · Workflow
From nightly EPIM export to installer download.
- 01
Read EPIM and SAP.
EPIM exports XML to SFTP nightly and on demand; SAP drops a flat file with material, GTIN, price group and availability. PIM Gate maps both into one canonical product record per SKU.
- 02
Check at the gate.
Rules per channel: ETIM class and mandatory features for wholesale, data sheet PDF present for the portal, de-CH text present for Swiss markets. Failing records are held with field-level reasons; the team fixes them in EPIM, where they belong.
- 03
Send only the delta.
New and changed segments are matched against the partner's TMX and your termbase, deduplicated across variants and exported as an XLIFF package. The partner works in its own CAT tool; the package comes back, is re-imported and lands in the review queue per language. de-CH uses a fallback chain to de-DE, so only fields that truly differ need a Swiss version.
- 04
Build wholesale files from the gate.
EPIM attributes are mapped to ETIM classes and features once; every export shows completeness per class. BMEcat files are generated per wholesaler, versioned and comparable with the previous delivery.
- 05
Open the portal.
Installers, planners and wholesalers find products, data sheets, manuals and certificates themselves. Wholesale partners additionally see logistics data and their BMEcat downloads. The website pulls the same data through the REST API — delta only.
- 06
Change safely.
New rules, mappings and portal settings are tried in the test tenant with the same source feeds before they are configured in production. Every export stays versioned, so any change can be compared and rolled back.
06 · Modules & portals
What this setup uses — and what is live today.
- LIVE
Viamedici connector (XML) · scheduled SFTP ingestion
Nightly and on-demand EPIM import
SAP data via scheduled file export
Material, GTIN, price group, availability
Generic ingestion live; standard SAP connector is on the roadmap
- LIVE
Canonical schema · multi-language with fallback chains
One record per SKU; de-CH falls back to de-DE
- LIVE
Validation rules · held-for-review
Channel rules for wholesale, portal and de-CH
- LIVE
Customer Portal
Self-service for installers, planners, wholesale
- 2026
Collections · share links · bulk download with audit trail
Wholesale and planners assemble and share selections
- 2026
White-label branding · custom domain
Portal in the manufacturer's brand and domain
- 2026
Product-data translation (TMX/TBX, delta, review queue, XLIFF packages)
Partner keeps its tool and TM; only deltas travel
- 2026
ETIM & BMEcat module
ETIM mapping, completeness, BMEcat per wholesaler
- LIVE
Versioned exports · field-level delta sync · REST API /v1
Website and feeds get only what changed
Stage/test tenant
Try rules and mappings before production
2026
- 2026
Digital Product Passport module
Phase 3: passport records and data carriers
- COMING SOON
PIM Gate Commerce
Later: shop fed through the gate
Status as of 24.09.2026. See the roadmap for dates.
07 · Expected effects
What typically changes.
Indicative
Data sheets leave by email, one request at a time → Installers and wholesale serve themselves in the portal; the service desk points to a link.
Indicative
BMEcat is assembled by hand for each wholesaler → BMEcat is generated from the gate, with ETIM completeness visible before delivery.
Indicative
Translators receive full files every cycle → Translators receive only new and changed segments, deduplicated, in XLIFF — in their own tool.
Indicative
de-CH is a manually edited copy → de-CH is its own locale with fallback, termbase and review.
Indicative
The website re-imports full exports → The website receives field-level deltas
about 95% smaller payloads than full exports
Indicative
DPP data is scattered → Passport-relevant attributes are modelled and validated in the same record, ready for the DPP module.
Qualitative expectations for this scenario, not measured results. Actual effects depend on data quality, number of channels and your processes.
08 · Typical configuration
Version S, one portal, one data module, a test tenant.
Up to 10 internal seats cover product data, marketing and the service lead. Installers, planners and wholesalers are portal users — unlimited in every version. Three languages and two source connectors fit Version S exactly; adding French or Italian for export later means moving to Version M. Indicative list price €10,950 per year.
Options
- Phase 3 · Digital Product Passport module (≤ 25k SKUs): + €4,800 / year
- Sales Portal as second portal module: + €2,400 / year
- Custom SAP connector instead of file export: + €1,200 / year, €3,500 one-off
- Catalog above 25k SKUs incl. variants or more than 3 languages: Version M (€10,200 / year), ETIM band ≤ 100k (€7,200 / year)
- PIM Gate Commerce: coming soon — no price yet
| Item | € / year |
|---|---|
| Version S — 1–10 seats, ≤ 25k SKUs, 1 portal module, 3 languages, 2 connectors | €5,400 |
| Customer Portal (portal module included in S) | incl. |
| ETIM & BMEcat module · SKU band ≤ 25k | €4,200 |
| Stage/test tenant · half capacity (25% of Version S) | €1,350 |
| Indicative list price | from €10,950 |
09 · Rollout
First portal in weeks, the rest in steps.
- 01
Weeks 1–2 · Scope
Weeks 1–2Scoping and data audit. Attribute inventory in EPIM, ETIM gap analysis for the top product classes, entitlement model (installer / planner / wholesale), sample TMX and TBX from the translation partner.
- 02
Weeks 3–6 · First portal
Weeks 3–6Connect and open the Customer Portal. EPIM and SAP ingestion, canonical mapping, validation rules, portal in the test tenant, pilot with a small group of installers and one wholesaler, then go-live.
- 03
Weeks 7–12 · Translation & ETIM
Weeks 7–12Delta translation and wholesale files. TM and termbase import, first XLIFF delta package, review queue per language; ETIM mapping and first BMEcat to one wholesaler, then the rest.
- 04
From month 4 · Extend
From month 4Website API, DPP, later the shop. Website switches to the REST API with delta sync; DPP data model and pilot passports for one product group; Commerce via early access when available.
Indicative plan for this scenario. Actual timing depends on data quality and availability of your team and partners.
10 · Next step
Recognize your setup? Book a scoping call.
We map your sources, channels and languages against this scenario and tell you what a first portal would take — and which modules you would not need.
11 · Keep reading
More on this scenario
LIVE
Customer Portal
Self-service for everyone who asks for your data.
2026
Translation & localization
Your TM, your terminology, only the delta.
2026
ETIM & BMEcat
Wholesale-ready, checked on every export.