"3 coils NYM 3x1.5, 1 drum 5x2.5 cut to 150 m, 20 frames 2-gang pure white as last time, 12 MCB B16." Electrical installers send orders like this by the hundreds every day, by email, often as a photo or a forwarded note. Electrical wholesale software with AI reads these orders, translates short designations into article numbers and prepares the order in the ERP, without inside sales retyping every line. The same principle applies to quotes from electrical bills of quantities (BoQs).

Key takeaways

• In electrical wholesale, order entry is the biggest lever: many small orders, many short designations, high time pressure.

• Typically difficult in this industry are cables and wires (coil, drum, cut length), multi-part switch ranges and equal alternatives.

• AI software like Mercura reads orders from the shared inbox, matches line items, adds surcharge lines and books into the ERP after approval.

• Product data from DATANORM and ETIM characteristics help with matching and with checking alternatives.

• Pricing including metal surcharges stays in the ERP; uncertain lines are flagged, not guessed.

Why is order entry in electrical wholesale so laborious?

Order entry in electrical wholesale is laborious because installers order in shorthand, one product often consists of several articles and cables are delivered in different sales forms. Inside sales has to interpret every line, get variants such as color, cross-section or tripping characteristic right and enter the order quickly, because the goods are often due on the construction site the next morning.

The typical stumbling blocks:

• Cables and wires: "NYM-J 3x1.5" comes as a coil, on a drum or as a cut length. Whether "1 drum" means a full drum or a certain length is rarely clear in the order.

• Multi-part products: In many switch ranges, a "switch" consists of an insert, a rocker and a frame, each in a specific series and color. One order line thus becomes several articles.

• Variants: Miniature circuit breakers differ in characteristic (B, C), rated current and number of poles; a wrong characteristic means a wrong delivery.

• "As last time": References to earlier orders or old article numbers require customer history.

• Metal prices: Cables containing copper are often charged with a metal surcharge in the industry. How volatile this basis is was shown by the suspension of the DEL quotation from February 14, 2022, reported by the Handwerksblatt: ZVEH warned at the time that without the quotation it was unclear on what price basis cables and wires should be ordered.

How does AI read an order from an electrical installer?

AI reads the order like an experienced inside sales employee: it recognizes line items, quantities and units, translates short designations and old article numbers into articles from your own range, assigns the order to the right branch and flags everything that is not clear. The employee reviews and approves instead of retyping.

Example: Order from an electrical contractor by email (anonymized, simplified)

Subject: Order customer no. 40xxx, construction site Schulstraße

Hello, please deliver by Wednesday 7 a.m.:

• 3 coils NYM-J 3x1.5

• NYM-J 5x2.5, 150 m cut

• 20 frames 2-gang, series as last time, pure white

• 12 MCB B16 1-pole

• 4 RCD 40A 30mA 4-pole

• 50 deep hollow-wall boxes

Thanks, regards

Mercura, an AI software for quote and order automation in technical sales, picks up such orders from the shared inbox, routes them to the responsible branch or sales rep, adds surcharge lines such as freight or packaging and books the order into the ERP after approval. Exports are monitored so that no order gets stuck unnoticed. More on the process: Automate order entry and the product page Order processing.

Why classic text recognition is not enough for this is explained in the comparison OCR or AI?: OCR delivers text, but no matching of "MCB B16" to the right article.

What role do ETIM and DATANORM play in electrical wholesale?

ETIM and DATANORM provide the product data on which matching is built: DATANORM mainly article numbers, texts and prices, ETIM the technical characteristics per product class. The better this data is maintained, the more reliably customer designations and alternatives can be checked. The classification model itself is maintained internationally by ETIM International.

According to dewiki, ETIM is a standard for the electronic exchange of product data in electrical engineering and is supported in Germany by ETIM Deutschland e. V., founded in 1999. Products are assigned to classes, and each class has defined characteristics such as rated current, number of poles or color. For an AI, this means: when an installer orders an "RCD 40A 30mA 4-pole," all articles with exactly these characteristics can be found, including from different manufacturers.

Mercura reads DATANORM, ETIM, BMEcat and Open Masterdata, among others. If the item master is incomplete, data sheets, technical documents and catalog texts are used in addition.

How do quotes from electrical BoQs get faster?

Quotes from electrical BoQs get faster when line items are read automatically, matched to your own range including long texts, checked against the specification and ranked by margin. Inside sales then takes care of brand questions, follow-up questions and conditions instead of searching for articles.

Electrical BoQs from planners typically contain installation material, distribution boards and protection equipment, switch ranges with a specified brand and luminaires. For luminaires and switch ranges in particular, the question "equal or not?" is decisive. The software shows which articles meet the required characteristics; whether an equal brand is quoted is decided by a person. Line items that are not in stock go to the manufacturer as a price request, and the reply is read back. The finished quote can be exported as GAEB or PDF and scheduled for follow-up. How lighting manufacturers see the same task from the other side is described in AI for quotes at lighting manufacturers.

When is AI not the right solution in electrical wholesale?

AI is not the right solution in electrical wholesale for orders that already arrive structured, for example through a web shop, a contractor software interface or EDI. There the matching is already done, and an additional layer adds little. The right solution depends on the order mix, not on the size of the distributor.

More honest limits:

• Configured products: Custom-built distribution boards or switchgear need configuration and engineering, not just matching.

• Pricing logic: Metal surcharges, project conditions and special prices are calculated by the ERP. The AI does not replace pricing.

• Ambiguity: "As last time" without clear history remains a follow-up question. The software flags, it does not guess.

• Large customers with EDI: For very large customers with high, uniform volume, EDI is often the more stable solution. The comparison is in EDI or AI?.

What does an electrical wholesaler need to get started?

To get started, an electrical wholesaler only needs a sample of real orders and requests plus access to the item master; a technical test on your own data is usually possible within two working days. First workflows typically go live in less than four weeks, without upfront training.

The ERP remains the leading system. Connected systems include SAP S/4HANA, SAP ECC, SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce, proALPHA and UniTrade, among others; for SAP, the real-time connection runs via OData, alternatively as an IDoc file, and other systems via an API or SFTP. Details on the SAP connection are in the article SAP order entry with AI, and the overview is under Integrations.

Mercura works with several distributors from electrical wholesale and is in use at more than 80 distributors and manufacturers in Europe and the US overall. The average hit rate when matching is 92%, depending on customer and catalog. Mercura is certified to ISO/IEC 27001, hosts in Europe and does not use customer data to train external AI models. More under Solutions for distributors.

Try it with your own orders Bring a real order or a real bill of quantities: in 30 minutes we show you how Mercura handles it in your process. Book a meeting

Conclusion

In electrical wholesale, order entry decides delivery capability and the workload in inside sales. AI translates short designations, cable sales forms and multi-part switch ranges into the right articles and flags what is unclear. With well-maintained DATANORM and ETIM data, matching becomes more reliable, but incomplete data is not a knockout criterion either. For channels that already arrive structured, such as shop and EDI, the existing route is usually the better one.

Further reading

• Order processing: emailed orders into your ERP automatically

• Order Entry Automation for Industrial Distributors: AI That Matches Every Part Number

• Quote Creation for Lighting Manufacturers: AI for BoQs

• Customer story: Sanitär-Heinze (plumbing and HVAC wholesale)

• Mercura vs. ePlato: Platform or In-House Processing?

• Mercura vs. kinisto: BoQs, Orders and Supplier Requests

Frequently asked questions

What software does an electrical wholesaler use? An electrical wholesaler uses an ERP (merchandise management system) for item master, prices, inventory and documents, plus a web shop, interfaces to contractor software and product data in formats such as DATANORM and ETIM. AI software complements this for orders and requests that arrive unstructured by email, PDF or photo.

Can AI capture cable orders with cut lengths correctly? Yes, the software recognizes cable type, cross-section and sales form such as coil, drum or cut length and matches the right article. If the sales form is not clear, the line is flagged for review.

Does the AI calculate the copper or metal surcharge? No, pricing and surcharge calculation stay in the ERP. The AI prepares the order, and the prices come from the leading system.

What is ETIM in electrical wholesale? ETIM is a classification standard that sorts products into classes with defined technical characteristics. In wholesale, it helps make products from different manufacturers comparable and find equal alternatives.

What is the difference between DATANORM and ETIM? DATANORM is a data format for item master, texts and prices, while ETIM is a classification model for technical characteristics. In practice, the two are used together.

How quickly can AI order entry be tested in electrical wholesale? A technical test on your own data is usually possible within two working days, and first workflows typically go live in less than four weeks.