Creation of a BMEcat file using the simple system offline generator

Übersicht

1. What is a BMEcat catalogue?

2. The two options at a glance

3. Prerequisites

4. Step-by-step with the Offline Generator

5. Understanding the Excel template

6. Preparing your data — the most common pitfalls

7. Understanding the log

8. Privacy and liability

9. Alternative: AI tool Claude (for special cases)

10. Frequently asked questions

11. Support and contact

1.  What is a BMEcat catalogue? 

BMEcat is an established standard for electronic product catalogues in B2B e-procurement. On simple system, vendors upload their article data as a BMEcat XML file. The file contains general catalogue data (e.g. vendor name, currency) as well as all articles with mandatory and additional information (article number, price, ECLASS code, manufacturer, etc.).

For detailed information about the BMEcat standard on simple system, see the help article Everything you need to know about BMEcat.

2.  The two options at a glance 

 Two options are available for creating the BMEcat XML file. We recommend the Offline Generator as the standard option, as it is privacy-friendly, free, and requires no installation. 

Offline Generator (recommended)	AI tool Claude (for special cases)
Data stays locally on your computer	Data is transferred to the AI provider
Free, no installation required	May incur costs depending on usage
Reliably tested up to approx. 100,000 articles	Tested up to approx. 10,000 articles in the free version of Claude. For larger catalogues or special cases, the free version is no longer sufficient.
Fixed logic, no version drift	Logic may change with new AI versions and skew results
No assistance, no special cases	Help with filling in the template, log explanations, special cases supported
Excel must match the template	Excel can also be filled from other sources (e.g. PDF catalogue or websites)

 

3.  Prerequisites

• Excel template · The current template "BMEcat_Generator.xlsx" (as of May 2026).
• Offline Generator · The HTML file "simplesystem_bmecat_generator.html" (as of May 2026). Works entirely without internet. Your data stays locally on your computer. Save the file by right-clicking → Save link as.
• Modern browser · Chrome, Edge, or Firefox (current version). Internet Explorer is not supported.
• Excel or compatible software · Microsoft Excel, LibreOffice Calc, or any other application that can write .xlsx files.
• Vendor portal access · Your login for simple system to upload the finished XML file.

4.  Step-by-step with the Offline Generator 

4.1 Fill in the Excel template

1. Open the Excel template and navigate to the "Katalog-Header" worksheet.
2. Enter the general catalogue data: vendor name, catalogue name, and ECLASS version are mandatory fields. Vendor number and currency are optional (default: EUR).
3. Switch to the "Artikel" worksheet. Column headers with an orange background are mandatory fields; grey ones are optional. Row 3 contains a sample row; from row 4 onwards, enter your own products.
4. Save the file, e.g. as "MyCatalogue.xlsx". Close Excel before opening the file in the generator.

4.2 Start the Offline Generator and generate the XML

1. Open the file "simplesystem_bmecat_generator.html" by double-clicking it in your browser. No internet connection is required.
2. Drag the saved Excel file into the upload area or click on the area to select the file.
3. Click "Generate BMEcat".
4. Check the log. It shows how many articles were processed, skipped, or included with a warning (see section 7 for details).
5. If errors are reported: correct them in Excel and repeat steps 2–4. Otherwise, you will encounter the same errors when uploading to the vendor portal.
6. If no more errors are reported: click "Download XML" and save the .xml file on your computer.

4.3 Upload the XML file

1. Log in to your vendor portal at simple system.
2. Navigate to the catalogue upload function and select the .xml file you just generated.
3. If you used filenames instead of URLs in column G or O: also upload those files to the Media repository so that simple system can assign them to the articles.
4. After uploading, check your articles in the catalogue view for accuracy.

5. Understanding the Excel template

5.1 "catalogue-Header" worksheet

Enter the general information about your catalogue here:

• Vendor name * · Full company name (e.g. Example GmbH).
• Vendor number · Your vendor number at simple system, if known. Can be left blank.
• Catalogue name * · Name of the catalogue (e.g. Main Catalogue 2026).
• Language · Default: deu. Change only if different.
• Currency · Default: EUR. Change only if different.
• ECLASS version * · Version of the ECLASS classification standard (select from dropdown).

Fields marked with * are mandatory. If left blank, the generator will not create an XML file.

5.2 "Article" worksheet

One article per row. Row 1 contains the column headers, row 2 the filling instructions, row 3 a sample, and from row 4 onwards you enter your own articles.

Column	Field	Required?	Notes
A	Article number	Yes	Max. 32 characters, unique per file.
B	Short description	Yes	Max. 130 characters. May be automatically truncated during upload (warning in log).
C	Long description	No	Detailed product description, max. 64,000 characters. Permitted HTML tags per simple system: <b>, <i>, <u>, <p>, <br>, <ul>, <li>. All other tags (e.g. <a>, <img>, <script>, <table>, <strong>, <sup>, <div>) are removed including their content. Unclosed or incorrectly nested tags cause the entire long description to be discarded. Example: <p><b>High-quality ballpoint pen</b><br>blue ink</p><ul><li>0.5 mm line width</li><li>Ergonomic design</li></ul>.
D	Order unit	Default	Select from dropdown. Blank = default "C62" (piece).
E	Net price / tiered prices	Yes	Period as decimal separator (e.g. 12.50). 0 is not permitted. For tiered prices, use the format "Quantity:Price" with spaces between tiers — example: "1:12.50 50:11.00 200:9.50". First tier must be "1:..."; quantities must strictly increase, prices must strictly decrease.
F	VAT rate	Default	Decimal: 0.19 = 19%. Blank = default 0.19.
G	Image URLs / filenames	No	One or more image sources, separated by semicolons ";". Publicly accessible URLs OR local filenames / relative paths (e.g. "product_123.jpg" or "images/detail.png") are permitted. The first source is the main image; further ones are detail images. For filenames, the file must also be uploaded to the Media repository.
H	ECLASS code	Yes	Exactly 8 digits after cleanup (e.g. "24-27-14-01" → "24271401").
I	Manufacturer name	Yes	Max. 50 characters. May be automatically truncated (warning in log).
J	Delivery time in days	Default	Whole number. Blank or invalid = default 1.
K	EAN number	No	Barcode, numeric only, with 8, 12, 13, or 14 digits. If the length differs or letters are present, the EAN number is ignored (warning), but the article remains in the catalogue.
L	Minimum order quantity	No	Integer > 0.
M	Price unit	No	Reference quantity for the price. Default 1.
N	Keywords	No	Comma-separated, max. 50 characters per keyword. Filenames are ignored.
O	Documents	No	URLs OR filenames for data sheets, safety data sheets, and other documents. Format per entry: "type:source", multiple entries separated by semicolons ";". Permitted types: data_sheet, safety_data_sheet, others. Examples: "data_sheet:datasheet.pdf", "safety_data_sheet:https://example.com/sdb.pdf". For filenames: also upload to the Media repository.
P–T	Feature 1 to 5	No	Up to 5 product features (FEATURE), one per column P, Q, R, S, T. Format per cell: "Name|Value|Unit" — unit is optional. Examples: "Length|20|mm", "Material|Stainless steel", "Colour|blue".

6.  Preparing your data — the most common pitfalls 

• Duplicate article numbers · Each article number may only appear once per file.
• Price format · Period as decimal separator (12.50), no comma, no thousands separator, no EUR symbol.
• ECLASS code · Exactly 8 digits after cleanup (spaces and hyphens are removed automatically). Letters or fewer than 8 digits cause the article to be skipped.
• Tiered prices · Entered directly in column E in the price field — format "Quantity:Price Quantity:Price" (example: "1:12.50 50:11.00 200:9.50"). First tier must be "1:..."; quantities must strictly increase, prices must strictly decrease. Tiers that violate these rules are discarded from the faulty tier onwards; valid tiers are retained and the article remains in the catalogue.
• Keywords · Do not enter filenames (e.g. image.jpg) — these are automatically ignored.
• HTML in descriptions · Exactly these seven HTML tags are permitted in column C (long description): <b>, <i>, <u>, <p>, <br>, <ul>, <li>. All other tags are removed including their content. Unclosed or incorrectly nested tags cause the entire long description to be discarded (warning in log).
• Special characters · Umlauts and special characters work. Technically problematic characters such as & or < are automatically converted to XML-compliant format.
• Images and documents · Both publicly accessible URLs and local filenames / relative paths are permitted in columns G (images) and O (documents) — even mixed. The file extension determines the MIME type (jpg/jpeg → image/jpeg, png → image/png, gif → image/gif, pdf → application/pdf). For filenames, the file must also be uploaded to the Media repository on simple system. Instructions: Providing media (German)
• Features · In columns P to T, you can enter up to five product features — one per column in the format "Name|Value|Unit" (unit optional). Each entry generates a <FEATURE> block in the BMEcat. If the format is incorrect, the respective feature is ignored (warning), but the article itself remains in the catalogue.

7. Understanding the log

 After clicking "Generate BMEcat", you receive a log with three sections. You can also save the same log as a text file via "Download log". 

7.1 ERRORS (article skipped)

These articles are not included in the XML. Typical reasons:

• Missing mandatory fields (e.g. article number, price, or manufacturer name missing).
• Price = 0 (not permitted).
• Article number longer than 32 characters.
• ECLASS code does not have exactly 8 digits after cleanup.

Correct these articles in Excel and repeat the generation.

7.2 WARNINGS (article included, data adjusted)

These articles are in the XML, but individual fields have been adjusted

• Short description or manufacturer name was too long and has been truncated.
• EAN number was too long and has been omitted.
• Tiered prices were implausible and have been discarded.
• Keywords were recognised as filenames and ignored.

Check whether the behaviour is intentional. If not, correct the Excel and regenerate.

7.3 INFO (defaults applied)

Here the generator documents where it has used defaults:

• Order unit set to "C62" (piece) because column D was empty.
• VAT rate set to 0.19 (19%) because column F was empty.
• Delivery time set to 1 day because column J was empty or invalid.

Check whether the defaults are appropriate for your catalogue. Enter different values in Excel as needed.

8.  Privacy and liability 

• Offline processing · The HTML generator processes your Excel file exclusively locally in your browser. No data is transferred to simple system or third parties. The HTML file also works entirely without an internet connection.
• AI-generated code · The Offline Generator is also based on AI-generated code. The generated BMEcat files may contain content-related, structural, or technical errors.
• No liability by simple system · simple system GmbH accepts no liability for the accuracy, completeness, or technical conformity of BMEcat files generated with this tool. Use is at the vendor's own risk.
• Verification obligation · All generated data must be checked before uploading. After uploading, a check via the catalogue view on simple system is possible.
• ECLASS licence · The use of ECLASS classification codes may require a licence. Please check the current licence conditions at www.eclass.eu. Contact us if you have any questions.

9.  Alternative: AI tool Claude (for special cases) 

If the Offline Generator is not sufficient for your use case (very large catalogues, unusual data sources, special cases in the data structure), you can alternatively use an AI tool such as Claude (claude.ai). Please note the following advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages

• Help filling in the template; questions are answered.
• Text can be adjusted inline, synonyms added, descriptions improved.
• The log can additionally be explained in plain language.
• Special cases (e.g. unusual units) can be processed without template adjustments.
• The Excel file can be filled from other sources, for example by extracting data from a PDF catalogue or websites.
• Tested up to approx. 10,000 articles.

Disadvantages

• Your data is transferred to the AI provider. Be sure to review the privacy policy and internal guidelines before uploading sensitive catalogue data.
• Usage may incur costs depending on the provider and plan.
• There is a risk of misinterpretation by the AI — the verification obligation lies entirely with the vendor.
• The processing logic may change with new AI versions or a different AI provider, or may produce incorrect results.

How to use Claude

1. Fill in the Excel as described in section 4.1.
2. Open claude.ai (or another AI tool with file upload).
3. Upload the Excel file as an attachment.
4. Copy the following prompt and send it:

Read the complete instruction prompt from the "Anleitung" worksheet (cell B39) of the attached Excel file and follow it exactly. The data for BMEcat generation is in the "Katalog-Header" and "Artikel" sheets of the same file.

Save the output XML as a .xml file and upload it to the vendor portal.

10. Frequently asked questions

What do I do if the generator reports "Sheet missing"?

The file must contain the "Katalog-Header" and "Artikel" sheets. Use the current template from simple system and do not rename the sheets.

Can I fill in the template in LibreOffice?

Yes. Save the file in .xlsx format. Dropdown lists and formatting are retained.

How many articles can the template handle?

The Offline Generator has been reliably tested up to approx. 100,000 articles. For larger catalogues, we recommend splitting the file into multiple partial catalogues.

The generator creates an XML, but simple system rejects the upload — why?

First check the generator log. If it contained errors, the affected articles were skipped. If the problem persists, please send the .xml file and the log to vendormanagement@simplesystem.com.

Can I reuse the Excel file from the AI variant in the Offline Generator?

Yes. The template is identical for both options. You can switch between the two options at any time.

What happens if I provide an image URL without an image, or a filename without an upload?

The generator transfers the URL or filename unchanged to the XML. On simple system, the product is displayed without an image if the URL is broken or the referenced file is not in the Media repository. Use publicly accessible, permanent URLs — or upload the file to the Media repository in advance.

 

11. Support and contact

For questions about the template, the generator, or the upload, please contact your vendor manager at simple system or write to vendormanagement@simplesystem.com.

Technical documentation on the BMEcat standard at simple system can be found at: https://content.simplesystem.com/en/hilfe/was-ist-ein-bmecat-0