For installers and electricians, Technische Unie isn't a supplier - it's THE supplier. Thousands of articles, net prices based on your revenue, and a location within driving distance. If you're building construction software for the Dutch market, TU integration isn't a nice-to-have. It's fundamental.
We spent the past months building a direct integration with the Technische Unie API. This is what we learned.
Why this is harder than it looks
At first glance, it seems simple: you fetch article data via an API and display it in your software. But reality is more complex.
First: pricing. TU works with net prices that differ per customer. Your purchase price depends on your annual revenue, your customer group, and sometimes even the season. A 'live price' therefore means: the price for this customer, at this moment, for this article.
Second: inventory. TU has dozens of locations. Inventory isn't central - it's distributed. An article might be 'in stock' in Eindhoven but not in Amsterdam. And that inventory changes constantly.
What we did differently
Most construction software that 'supports' TU does so via screen scraping or manual import. You open the TU website in a separate window, search for your article, and manually copy the price over. That's not integration - that's a workaround.
We chose a direct API connection. This means Klusmaat communicates in real-time with TU's systems. When you look up an article, you see your net prices. When you place an order, it goes through directly. When inventory changes, you know immediately.
The benefits of live data
Live pricing changes everything. An installer told us he used to spend evenings typing prices from TU's website into his quotes. Hours of work per week. Now the prices are directly in his quote - and they're correct.
Live inventory is even more important. If you know an article won't be available for two weeks, you plan differently. You order earlier, or choose an alternative. No more unpleasant surprises on the construction site.
2BA: the backbone
Besides TU, we also integrated 2BA - the national product database for the installation industry. 2BA contains technical specifications of millions of articles: dimensions, weights, EAN codes, and relationships between products.
This enables smart features. When you select a heat pump, Klusmaat knows which connection kits belong with it. When you configure a distribution board, the system sees which circuit breakers fit. This isn't magic - it's combining TU prices with 2BA product data.
What's coming next
We're working on expansion to other wholesalers. Solar, Rexel, Sonepar - each with their own API, their own challenges. The goal is the same: live prices, live inventory, direct orders. No retyping, no waiting.
Because that's ultimately what it's about: less time on purchasing, more time on the craft.