From B to F

Finfo is Sweden's largest database for article information on building materials, with 1,900,000 articles from 400 suppliers. From the suppliers, price information, images, documentation, logistics data, environmental properties and product properties are sent to building material retailers such as Beijer, K-bygg and Mestergruppen. Using a common and unified channel makes it easier for the dealers to receive information and the suppliers reduce their administration.

One of the information components, environmental properties, is taken from the BASTA system. When suppliers enter their products with ratings in the BASTA system, Finfo picks it up and passes it on to the building material dealers, who in turn can display it in their physical and digital marketplaces.

Calle himself thinks that the BASTA system is best at providing core information about items. Building material retailers are noticing a shift towards more and more customers ordering via e-commerce and then picking up the material on site. Calle believes that the number of purchases made via e-commerce will continue to increase and become an increasingly important channel. This creates increased information requirements, especially in sustainability and the environment.

  - You know that when you are ordering a product with the BASTA rating, it is declared and contains no hazardous substances, says Calle.

One challenge the industry faces is being able to identify goods at item level, and that's where GTIN comes in. The GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is a common identifier of construction products and by including the GTIN for each individual product, systems know they are talking about the same product. Historically, assessment systems have not required GTINs for each product or item, making it difficult to match when information moves between different systems. The building trade has long worked with GTIN because it is the barcode on the packaging. No GTIN - no possibility to scan the product at the checkout.

Calle uses the example of a supplier of planks: say it's a board in exactly the same dimensions, in five different types of wood. Three of the planks could be rated BASTA and two BETA. If the GTIN is not entered for each product, FINFO cannot distinguish the planks and the correct grade will not be displayed.

In the future, digital product passports or digital delivery notes will have a major impact on the industry. The Miljödata NU project, led by IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute together with the Swedish Construction Federation, the Swedish Transport Administration, the building materials industry, Byggmaterialhandlarna, NCC, Peab, Skanska, is looking at how climate information should be collected and passed on.