thyssenkrupp invests in e-commerce: Mapudo data model to further improve customer shopping experience

Materials Services, the thyssenkrupp Group's materials distribution and service provider, is continuing to invest in its e-commerce activities: The company has purchased the data model for materials and anonymized product data from Mapudo GmbH, a former online marketplace for steel products. In this way thyssenkrupp Materials Services aims to optimize product data quality and offer customers an even better shopping experience on the company's online platforms.

"Relevant and accurate product data is an important decision-making aid for our customers and an indispensable prerequisite for the further digitalization of the industry",

says Volker Hewing, as Head of IT Foundation responsible for master data management at thyssenkrupp Materials Services.

The acquired data contains product descriptions such as quality characteristics and specifics, which allow the materials to be better identified and mapped in the online shops and portals of thyssenkrupp Materials Services. Customers thus benefit for example from an optimized search and selection of individual products. thyssenkrupp Materials Services has begun improving data quality as part of its own digital transformation and will continue to drive this forward together with digital processes in industry. "Mapudo has laid an important foundation in recent years," says Hewing.

Industry-specific challenges

"There are no standards for metallic materials, such as EAN codes, which are not specific to any particular trader or producer. Accordingly, materials must be identified by their properties. At Mapudo, we have created a multi-layered product typology that enables efficient and consistent comparison of materials and at the same time enrichment of product data," says Niklas Friederichsen, co-founder and, together with Christian Sprinkmeyer, managing director of Mapudo GmbH.