UNSPSC - Product Classification at Commodity Level (4th Level)

INTRODUCTION

Our client, Hippomini a leading Distributor of digital Learning Materials for Educational Institutions and Schools in Denmark approached us to classify their products to the UNSPSC (Version 19.0501) classification.

Hippomini has been using the TrueTrade Platform to sell their products where many municipalities in Denmark use it to buy a variety of products. The platform required UNSPSC for all products at the Commodity level.

CHALLENGE

The TrueTrade platform accepts UNSPSC for all products only at the Commodity level, which is the 4th level in the UNSPSC hierarchy. The input data that we received included: 1. Internal Product ID 2. Short descriptions and 3. Reference Number.

Generally, the UNSPSC coding is done based on the given input descriptions to speed up the process. However, after analysing the input data, we realized that most of the descriptions did not exactly describe the products and its type.

Example

Product ID	Description	Reference
1060	Roland VersaSTUDIO BN-20 skæreprinter	BN-20

From the above description the product could basically be identified as just a Printer and classified up to maximum 3rd level in the UNSPSC hierarchy – 43212100 Computer printers.

SOLUTION

As the classification at the commodity level is must, primal knowledge about the product in detail including its type and application is absolutely essential.

To identify the product, type and application accurately we came up with the approach of product sourcing, by which products are sourced from respective Manufacturer’s/Supplier’s website or catalogues, to make sure that the products are described appropriately.

Product Sourced URL https://www.rolanddga.com/products/printers/versastudio-bn-20-t-shirt-printing-press From the above sourced information, we knew that the product is a Desktop Inkjet Printer/Cutter, and we classified it to 43212104 - Inkjet printers.

BENEFIT

By sourcing, we were able to classify 100% of the products at commodity level with comparatively better accuracy which was significant.

RESULT

The Client was able to upload all their products to TrueTrade platforms successfully.

TESTIMONIAL

We were in search of UNSPSC service providers to classify our products to upload it to the TrueTrade platform. As the TrueTrade platform accepts only UNSPSC codes at the Commodity level, SoftNis helped us classify all our products well in time and with good quality. Most importantly they understood our products, type, and application and classified all our products to the Commodity level.

Mathias Pedersen, Solution architect, Hippomini, Denmark.