Product data classification is a vital portion of product data management. It is an elaborate and challenging task because of the heterogeneity of taxonomic codes and classification schemas used by vendors. They have a tendency to vary expressively from country to country and manufacturer to manufacturer.

For example, an extensively used classification schema in the US is UNSPSC. Moreover, there is UPC, used in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand and also eClass, used both in Germany and the US. Hence, after take out product data from rough sources, one might discover that it follows to a great variety of classification schemas.