The Kompass Group

Kompass has served business and industry for 60 years. It originated in Switzerland and is now present in 70 countries worldwide.

Kompass has developed its business through a franchise network.

In many countries it operates with internationally known firms such as: Bonnier in Scandinavia and Hungary, Reed Elsevier in the UK, the French and Italian telecom companies in France, Italy, Spain and the Benelux countries, and Coface/Veritas in the USA, Mexico, Chile and Canada, Coface/Intercredit in Poland...

The Kompass Group employs over 2500 people.

If you have any questions or if you would like to order any Kompass Products, please contact your  local publisher. If you reside in a country where Kompass is not yet represented, please contact Kompass International.

Market Place

The Kompass System is the market place for business:

• Sellers present their products and services
• Buyers find the products and services they require

The Kompass System strengthens the link between buyers and sellers through the use of a unique classification system. This system enables buyers to find the necessary products and services and it enables sellers to target clients.

How it works

Every company worldwide which participates in business to business commerce may be listed in the Kompass Database.

A basic listing is free so that the majority of appropriate companies are included.

The Kompass Database contains close to 1.8 million companies.

Kompass does not represent retailers since it is aimed at professional buyers who deal directly with manufacturers, agents or distributors under standard business to business conditions.

The information is presented in comprehensive company profiles which include contact details, product and service information, names of executives, etc...For more details, see How to Use ?.

The information is published in each country and internationally. It is published in a variety of formats: national books, national and multi-country CD-ROMs and on www.kompass.com.

A paid extended listing enables companies to display information in addition to that contained in the free basic listing. The Kompass System also offers various other advertising options.

Product and Service Indexing

The Kompass Product and Service Indexing System is comprehensive and effective. Developed over the past 60 years, it has recently been revised and is now standardized worldwide.

A central classification team regulates the numbering and naming of the products and services. New products and services are added to cover emerging technologies and industries. An editorial team screens all the new indexing terms and verifies the accuracy of the translations.

English is the reference language, but the indexing terms are available in close to 38 languages; therefore users can search for products and services using technical terms in their own native languages.

Each product and service is represented by a seven digit code. The first two digits represent the industrial group, the next three the product or service group and the final two identify the product or service.

The Kompass Classification contains over 53,000 Kompass Classification Codes arranged in a hierarchical structure.

For instance, product 31 310 01 "Acetic acids" is classified under product group 31 310 entitled "Organic acids,..." and under industrial group 31 entitled "Acids, alkalis,...".

The Kompass Classification is protected by copyright, which is owned by Kompass International ( © 2005 Kompass International Neuenschwander SA ).

Data Collection

Most company profiles in the Kompass Database require modifications every year because of changes relating to executives, employment numbers, products and services, contact details (address, telephone, fax, e-mail), etc. To keep track of these changes Kompass visits key executives and circulates proofs regularly to the companies in its database. This is followed up by telephone verification to ensure that the data is accurate.

Basic information may also be entered on-line. Simply go to the form and enter the changes. We will verify the information before publication.

You can check on www.kompass.com if your company is accurately listed in the Kompass Database.

Free Basic Listing

If your company is not yet listed in the Kompass Database, you can fill in this form completing as many fields as possible so that we can determine how to list your company accurately.

We will contact you with regards to the possible future insertion of your company data in the Kompass Database.

You can then check on www.kompass.com to see if your company is listed in the Kompass Database.