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Knowledge on e-catalogues and digital procurement

Technical articles on the standards we work with every day: BMEcat, PunchOut, OCI, cXML and connecting to procurement platforms.

  1. BMEcat software & catalogue management: steering product data automatically

    What BMEcat software does beyond a converter: customer assortments from one master catalogue, bulk changes and catalogues for tenders.

    5 min read

  2. Creating BMEcat from Excel: structured data transfer without an IT project

    How a spreadsheet becomes a valid BMEcat catalogue: common errors with GTINs, decimal separators and UTF-8, plus tiered prices and classification.

    8 min read

  3. What is cXML? (Commerce eXtensible Markup Language)

    What cXML is, which document types it has, how a cXML PunchOut runs and how cXML differs from OCI and EDI.

    8 min read

  4. OCI 4.0 – the Open Catalog Interface explained

    What OCI 4.0 is, what changed from OCI 3.0 and how the process works for supplier and buyer, step by step.

    9 min read

  5. What is the OCI interface?

    How the OCI interface connects the buyer's ERP to your webshop, what OCI 4.0 and 5.0 change and what to prepare for the connection.

    6 min read

  6. What is BMEcat? The XML catalogue format for B2B explained

    What BMEcat is, how the header and item data are structured, how BMEcat 1.2 differs from 2005 and how ECLASS, ETIM and UNSPSC fit in.

    8 min read

  7. BMEcat validation: error-free BMEcat catalogues for Mercateo and online shops

    Why catalogue uploads to Mercateo and customers fail and how the three checks work: XML syntax, structure per BMEcat 1.2, content via Schematron.

    6 min read

  8. Technical integration with the Unite Mercateo procurement platform

    How suppliers connect to Unite Mercateo: the three sales models, requirements for the BMEcat catalogue and PunchOut via OCI or cXML.

    6 min read

  9. PunchOut: definition, mechanics and technology

    What a PunchOut catalogue is, how buying runs in four steps from the procurement system to the supplier shop and back, and which protocols exist.

    6 min read

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