We would like to avoid misapprehensions. This is why we define here some
of the terms used on this website or in CATpool as precisely as we can:
| Bidding catalog |
CATpool-Quote automatically generates not only the formal offer
or bidding but especially a dedicated "bidding catalog",
which is basically a small individual catalog containing only the
offered products with all relevant technical details, with images
and with everything that has to be attached to the formal part of
the offer or bidding. |
| Consumers |
See data consumer |
| Controlled data |
The CATpool server stores public and controlled data. Controlled
data is such that you would want to have control over who may see
and use this data. If is not really confidential data but you still
want to grant individual access rights to this data. This is supported
by the CATpool software. Typically, high-res images and some more
"intimate" technical data are considered to be "controlled
data". You decide what you declare controlled! |
| Data consumer |
A CATpool data consumer is a member who downloads data from CATpool
for his professional use. These are typically importers, distributors
and dealers of any type and size but also craftsmen and service people
or companies like engineers, architects and planners and all those
who have a professional need for the CATpool data. |
| Data vendor |
A CATpool data vendor is a member who supplies data to the CATpool
server for distribution via CATpool. Data vendors are typically manufacturers,
importers, distributors. A CATpool member can be both a data vendor
as well as a data consumer but this will need separate memberships
and member identifications. |
| Members |
These are registered CATpool participants who are accusing the CATpool
software and data. The use of the CATpool software is limited to members
and the same applies to the CATpool services. Membership is free for
SME. |
| Member ID |
Every CATpool member receives a unique identification number (ID)
from the CATpool server. This is used to avoid data chaos and to properly
administrate data and data flow. Data uploaded by data vendors is
stamped with this member ID and this is used to link any data object
to a particular data source. The member ID is also used when a CATpool
client wishes to downloads data from the CATpool server. |
| Must fields |
These are some mandatory product data fields, which must be entered
in any case by data vendors in order to process the product data.
The content of these data fields will be publicly visible to anybody
even to non-members. Among these must fields are the vendor ID, the
vendor article number and a short product text. Additional data fields
can be added and declared public by the data vendor. |
| Non-SME |
These are enterprises who do not qualify as an SME definition created
by the EU. In the case of CATpool we know two slightly different types
of Non-SME, which we call Non-SME1 and Non-SME2. Details... |
| Participants |
All CATpool users are participants regardless of whether they are
members (data vendors or data consumers) or anonymous public users
of the CATpool portal web site. |
| Portal |
This is the CATpool portal web site
www.catpool.com where public product data is visible and available
for any Internet user. |
| Private data |
Prices, rebates and transactions are considered to be private data
as opposed to public data and controlled data. The CATpool server
never stores private data. Instead, you use your local CATpool software
together with your local CATpool database to exchange private data
only directly with your business partners typically via email. The
entire exchange process as well as the export and import from and
to the local databases of both business partners is fully supported
by the local CATpool software. |
| Public data |
General product identification and description data is considered
"public data" in CATpool terms. Public data is available
for everybody on the CATpool portal and for every consumer member
for download from the CATpool server. Some data fields are mandatory
to be public otherwise the whole CATpool system could not work.
Mandatory public product fields are:
- the article ID,
- your article number,
- an article description,
- the needed technical data to identify a product
- and a low-res product image
Beyond that you can decide, which data fields you declare as public
or as controlled data. |
| SME |
Small and medium enterprises as defined by the EU. Details... |
| Transactions |
This is used as the general term for all business processes, which
are related to enquiries, offers and orders as well as to the ongoing
processes like billing etc. Often "transactions" is used
to describe processes and data, which exchanged via CATpool beyond
product data. |
| Vendor |
See data vendor |
